Legal Geek No. 77: Supreme Court Deadlock at End of 2016 Term

Welcome back to Legal Geek. This week, we take a look at some of the significant decisions being handed down this month by the Supreme Court in a quirky term with only 8 justices and plenty of gridlock.

https://archive.org/details/LegalGeekEp77

The final two or three weeks in June, you can always count on the most contentious decisions in the annual Supreme Court term to finally be decided before the Justices take a summer recess in July and August. As we discussed back in February, the death of Antonin Scalia left a hole on the Court which allows for 4-4 split decisions and gridlock, as such cases end up being mere affirmances of whatever the lower court decision was. Perhaps thankfully, there are no cases this term quite at the level of importance of last year's Obergefell gay marriage decision, or recent decisions on Obamacare and the second amendment.

The deadlock has not failed to appear, especially this week when two important cases were handed down with 4-4 decisions on the same day.

One of these was a victory for conservatives as a lower court decision blocking President Obama's executive actions to reform immigration by granting amnesty to several million illegal immigrants was upheld by the completely-split Court. That result means Obama will likely not be able to do anything in this field before his second term is finished in this regard, and immigration will remain a hot topic of the campaign, which could actually favor Donald Trump, surprisingly. Time will tell, however, as elections are not decided on one issue.

The other of these was a legal technicality case about whether an Indian tribal court can properly exercise jurisdiction over tort claims against non-tribe member defendants. The 4-4 split means that the tribal court maintains jurisdiction, as decided by the lower federal courts.

However, thanks to Justice Kagan being recused from the important affirmative action case regarding the University of Texas's admissions policies, the Court did get forced to a 4-3 decision. This decision favored more liberal thinking as race-conscious university admissions policies which are narrowly tailored to meet the strict scrutiny standard remain acceptable, just like in a case a decade ago focusing on Michigan Law School's admissions policies. In reality, this keeps affirmative action at the status quo it currently is, rather than severely curtailing it.

However, some late-term cases can still come to a decision, as proven by the three patent and copyright law cases decided this month along with the Fourth Amendment decision this week confirming that breathalyzer tests without a warrant are acceptable invasions of privacy under constitutional law in a suspected DUI situation, while blood tests continue to not be acceptable. So breathalyzer tests will remain an effective tool and deterrent to drinking and driving.

The Bottom Line is, even without any huge cases outside perhaps the affirmative action case, the issues presented to the Supreme Court are still very interesting and contentious. As a result, for those who enjoy watching the Court, this is basically an extended Christmas season. Enjoy the rest of the few decisions remaining, as we turn our attention back to presidential politics and who will finally fill Scalia's empty seat.

-----------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Please provide feedback and legal-themed questions as segment suggestions to me on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy