One More Case . . .

The Supreme Court has set Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for reargument in September -- before the next term of the Court begins. So it would seem to be the last case of the October 2008 term. Yet unless the Justices turn it around super-quickly, the decision will be handed down during the October 2009 term, and in all likelihood the Court will hear the case with Justice Sotomayor instead of Justice Souter.

SCOTUSBlog reports on the briefing schedule and previews the argument here. Rick Hasen further previews the case on his Election Law Blog and on Slate, and he rounds up commentary on the case here and here.

Perry Dane:
There's actually a good chance that the case could be turned around "super-quickly." Note that (1) no other case will be on the Court's plate (except for cert petitions and such), (2) the Justices prefer to treat each term of court as self-contained; if they were expecting to issue an opinion during the October 2009 Term, they could easily have set the case for argument during that term, and (3) a set of opinions might already be drafted.
6.30.2009 12:47pm
Kedar Bhatia (mail) (www):
I'm almost certain the Court will hand down the opinion during OT08. I can't imagine why they could hold a hearing during their summer recess if they had no intention of deciding that case on some sort of expedited schedule. If they didn't mind handing down the opinion during OT09, they would have heard arguments in October.
6.30.2009 3:18pm
arbitraryaardvark (mail) (www):
Because of the timing and the subject matter, I expect that this case will be one of the most written about in the press.
It's probably an easy topic to get published on, for publications that have a short enough turn around. Sharpen your pencils.
6.30.2009 3:42pm
Soronel Haetir (mail):
I can also see the court wanting to get this out of the way early in order to not cause disruption in the '10 primary cycle. If it were heard normally and then deliberated on in typical fashion it would be running up on that. Especially with the way election finance cases tend to fracture.
6.30.2009 3:48pm

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