Supreme Court To Hear Audio Arguments In May

This morning, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral argument by telephone conference on six dates in May on a limited number of postponed cases. Justices and counsel will participate remotely. In a first, the Supreme Court will provide a live feed audio of these arguments to new media.

The cases to be heard by the Court in May include cases involving the release to a grand jury of President Trump’s tax returns, Faithless Electors, whether the Trump Administration was permitted to exempt the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious objectors from providing insurance containing certain contraceptive coverage, and whether federal courts may adjudicate employment claims by employees with a religious function.

The complete list of cases includes:

• McGirt v. Oklahoma: A case concerning prosecutorial jurisdiction over historical Native American lands.
• United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V.: A case concerning the trademarkability of .com domains under the Lanham Act.
• Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc.: A case asking whether the requirement that NGO’s receiving federal funding for overseas aids programs adopt policies opposing prostitution violates the First Amendment.
• Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, and St. James School v. Biel: A case concerning whether the First Amendment prohibits civil courts from adjudicating employment discrimination claims brought by employees who carry out important religious functions.
• Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, and Trump v. Pennsylvania: Concerning the legality of the Trump Administration’s exemption of the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious objectors from providing healthcare with contraceptive coverage.
• Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado Department of State v. Baca: The Faithless Elector Cases considering whether a presidential elector may be penalized for failing to follow the popular vote.
• Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc.: A case concerning whether the government-debt exception to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991’s automated-call restriction violates the First Amendment.
• Trump v. Vance and Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG: The presidential tax return cases concerning whether a grand-jury subpoena served on a custodian of the president’s personal records, demanding production of nearly 10 years’ worth of the president’s financial papers and his tax returns, violates Article II and the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.