Supreme Court grants 5 cases today (12/13/19), including 3 consolidated Trump cases

Politics
1

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2019

CERTIORARI GRANTED

18-9526 McGIRT, JIMCY V. OKLAHOMA

The motion of petitioner for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and the petition for a writ of certiorari are granted.

19-177 USAID, ET AL. V. ALLIANCE FOR OPEN SOCIETY INT’L, ET AL.

The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. Justice Kagan took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.

19-635 TRUMP, DONALD J. V. VANCE, CYRUS R., ET AL.

The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The case will be set for argument in the March 2020 argument session.

19-715 ) TRUMP, DONALD J., ET AL. V. MAZARS USA, LLP, ET AL.

19-760 ) TRUMP, DONALD J., ET AL. V. DEUTSCHE BANK AG, ET AL. (19A640)

The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-715 is granted. The application (19A640) for stay presented to Justice Ginsburg and by her referred to the Court is granted, and it is ordered that the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, case No. 19-1540, is hereby stayed pending further order of the Court. In addition, the application is treated as a petition for a writ of certiorari, and the petition is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. The cases will be set for argument in the March 2020 argument session.

The Supreme Court has taken the Trump cases and will hear them in the March sitting. I suspect they will try to expedite a decision in this case, rather than waiting until the end of June to release it.

More on the other two cases shortly.

2

Here is a brief summary of the two cases not associated with Trump.

Issue : Whether the prosecution of an enrolled member of the Creek Tribe for crimes committed within the historical Creek boundaries is subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction.

This is an interesting grant because the following case is still kicking around at the Supreme Court.

Issue : Whether the 1866 territorial boundaries of the Creek Nation within the former Indian Territory of eastern Oklahoma constitute an “Indian reservation” today under 18 U.S.C. § 1151(a).

I strongly suspect that McGirt is meant to clarify the decision they intend to reach in Sharp.

Issue : Whether - when in Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International Inc. , the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment bars enforcement of Congress’ directive, which required respondents, United States-based organizations that receive federal funds to fight HIV/AIDS abroad, to “have a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking” as a condition of accepting those funds - the First Amendment further bars enforcement of that directive with respect to legally distinct foreign entities operating overseas that are affiliated with respondents.