SCOTUS Thursday

The U.S. Supreme Court has been issuing opinions only on Thursdays this month, with only orders lists on Mondays. That is a departure from past practice. The court issued three opinions today. It was a good day for landowners and homeowners, but no criminal cases.  One law-enforcement-related civil case was decided, but the issue was purely one of civil procedure.

Dupree v. Younger, No. 21-454, was a suit by a prisoner against prison guards. Here is the first paragraph of the opinion, which sums it up:

In Ortiz v. Jordan, we held that an order denying summary judgment on sufficiency-of-the-evidence grounds is not appealable after a trial. 562 U. S. 180 (2011). Thus, a party who wants to preserve a sufficiency challenge for appeal must raise it anew in a post-trial motion. The question presented in this case is whether this preservation requirement extends to a purely legal issue resolved at summary judgment. The answer is no.

Still waiting for Jones v. Hendrix, argued in the fall. See this post. The fact that the opinion is taking so long is curious.

An orders list will be issued next Tuesday. That is the first court day of the week, with Monday being Memorial Day.