Supreme Court Defers Decision on Kawashima Petition
May 16, 2011
The Supreme Court was expected to announce this morning whether it would grant certiorari in the Kawashima case, but today’s order list contained no order in the case. Instead, the Court has “relisted” the petition for consideration at this week’s conference. That means that the case has caught the Court’s attention and distinguished itself from the mass of cert petitions that are routinely denied, with some of the Justices determining that the petition warrants more careful study. Although the odds that the petition will be granted have increased, it remains true that most cert petitions are denied, even the ones that are relisted. (That is what happened last month with the State of Virginia’s cert petition seeking immediate review of its challenge to the constitutionality of the new health care legislation.) If the Court is ready to decide on the Kawashima petition this week with the benefit of another week to consider it, the order denying or granting certiorari would be announced next Monday, May 23.
