Supreme Court Update 052112

The Supreme Court decided three cases this morning.

1. In the first case, Holder v. Gutierrez, the Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Under federal law, aliens who are facing deportation may be able to avoid leaving the country if they have lived continuously in the United States for at least seven years and have been a lawful permanent resident (“Green Card”) for at least five years. Today’s decision means that an alien must satisfy these requirements himself and cannot rely on the time in which he lived with a parent to avoid deportation.
2. In the second case, Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, the Court decided that federal law only permits the reimbursement for payment of interpreter costs from oral translation. The translation of documents from a foreign language into English cannot be reimbursed.
3. Finally, in Astrue v. Capato, the Court unanimously decided that a child who was conceived after the death of his biological father cannot receive Social Security benefits as his father’s surviving child.

More decisions are expected to be announced this Thursday, when the Court meets for its weekly Conference.

Supreme Court Decisions Remaining This Term

With today’s decision, there are 20 cases yet to be decided this term. Major cases still to be decided (highlighted on the chart below) include:

1. The Affordable Care Act;
2. The federal law criminalizing lies about military service and honors;
3. The Federal Communications Commission’s indecency standards;
4. Arizona’s efforts at cooperative law enforcement;
5. The First Amendment rights of union employees.