Justices take up "false statement" dispute and rare capital case

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: SCOTUSblog

SCOTUS NEWS
Justices take up "false statement" dispute and rare capital case

By Amy Howe
on Oct 4, 2024 at 11:44 am


The justices released a list of 15 new cases they will hear this term on Friday morning. (Aashish Kiphayet via Shutterstock)

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments early next year in a case involving a member of one of Chicago's most prominent political dynasties, a relatively rare capital case, and Mexico's lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers. In a short list of orders,(1) the justices on Friday added 15 new cases to their docket for the 2024-25 term, which starts on Monday. ... The order granting the new cases came from the justices' "long conference" on Sept. 30 - the first conference since early July in which they have met to consider petitions for review. Another list of orders from that conference (among other things, denying review of hundreds of petitions that have accumulated since July) is expected on Monday, Oct. 7.

The justices agreed to hear the case of Patrick Daley Thompson, the grandson of Richard J. Daley, who served as the mayor of Chicago from 1955 to 1976, and the nephew of Richard M. Daley, who served as mayor from 1989 to 2011. Thompson himself was elected as a member of Chicago's city council in 2015.

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In July, the justices agreed to put the execution of Ruben Gutierrez on hold to give them time to consider his appeal. On Friday the court granted that appeal.(2) ... Gutierrez was sentenced to die for the 1998 stabbing death of 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison in Brownsville, Tex. But Gutierrez has long insisted that he did not go into Harrison's home on the night of the murder, and he has sought access to the physical evidence in the case so that he can test it for DNA evidence that might help to clear him. ... In 2021, a federal district court in Texas ruled that the state law governing postconviction DNA testing violates an inmate's constitutional right to due process. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reversed that ruling, however, holding that Gutierrez does not have a legal right to sue, known as standing, to bring his challenge.

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The other cases granted on Friday are:

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Recommended Citation: Amy Howe, Justices take up "false statement" dispute and rare capital case, SCOTUSblog (Oct. 4, 2024, 11:44 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/10/justices-take-up-false-statement-dispute-and-rare-capital-case/

(1) https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/100424zr_o7jp.pdf

(2) https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-7809.html

Read more: https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/10/justices-take-up-false-statement-dispute-and-rare-capital-case/

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Justices to hear challenge to regulation of unserialized 'ghost guns'

CASE PREVIEW
Justices to hear challenge to regulation of unserialized ‘ghost guns’

By Amy Howe
on Oct 2, 2024 at 5:35 pm

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Oral arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok will begin at 10 a.m. on Oct. 8. (John M. Chase via Shutterstock)

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument next week in a challenge to a 2022 federal rule that seeks to regulate “ghost guns” – firearms without serial numbers that, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives says, almost anyone can quickly assemble with parts that they purchase, often in a kit online or through the mail. Serial numbers are used by law enforcement to track guns used in crime.

Defending the rule, the ATF argues that it is necessary to address an “urgent public safety and law enforcement crisis” created by the “exponential” increase in ghost guns. And the agency stresses that the rule does not seek to ban ghost guns, but instead simply tries to ensure that they are regulated in the same way as other commercial gun sales.

But the gun owners and gun manufacturers challenging the rule counter that the federal government has not previously required a license to build a gun for private use. And they push back against the ATF’s efforts to portray ghost guns as a problem. Even without the 2022 rule, they say, federal laws regulating guns still apply to “the vast majority of firearms produced in this country,” and, they claim, the ATF’s own data shows that ghost guns are “not a substantial source of firearms for criminals.”

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Recommended Citation: Amy Howe, Justices to hear challenge to regulation of unserialized ‘ghost guns’, SCOTUSblog (Oct. 2, 2024, 5:35 PM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/10/justices-to-hear-challenge-to-regulation-of-unserialized-ghost-guns/