October in the Supreme Court: What’s happening? Why should I care? | KAMR

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR / KCIT) – The U.S. Supreme Court began a presumably historic term Monday morning with face-to-face arguments planned after over 18 months of purely virtual sessions. The agenda is meant to affect everyone in the nation, with new judges addressing issues such as abortion, guns, and religion.

The court is expected to remain closed to the public with only lawyers involved in the cases and regular reporters on site, and masking guidelines apply. However, the public will be able to hear live streams of the arguments.

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What happens and when More importantly, how could these cases affect life in the high plains?

Here’s a weekly look at October in the Supreme Court:

Oct 4 – Oct 8:

• Monday 4th October
  • Mississippi versus Tennessee – The states of Mississippi and Tennessee have gone to court over a disagreement over water in an underground aquifer that is between parts of both states. The conflict, which dates back to 2005, began with Mississippi claiming that Tennessee was pumping water from the Mississippi portion of the aquifer. Tennessee said the aquifer was an interstate resource that should be fairly shared. The court is expected to determine whether Mississippi has sole authority over the naturally stored groundwater and sandstone within its borders and whether Tennessee owes damages to the neighboring state.
    • Why is it important to Amarillo? The Texas Panhandle has its own interstate water source, with the Ogallala Aquifer serving as a resource for eight states. However, as the water dries up and the farmers work hard to protect the remains, disputes are possible in the future about which state gets what amount from the aquifer. As the court upheld the Mississippi v. Tennessee sees it could affect the way future disputes over similar aquifers are resolved.
  • Wood versus United States – While Tennessee investigators were looking for a fugitive in 2015, one of whom was not in uniform, they came to William Wooden’s home. Incidentally, an official found that the convicted felon Holz had several firearms – illegal under the Armed Career Criminal Act, as Holz had more than three criminal records. Wooden argued that his 1997 burglary convictions should not count as more than a crime since the break-ins were from “a single cause,” which would reduce the total conviction of wood for crimes to three. The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether crimes committed in a single rampage in a row count as separate crimes or as different aspects of a single crime.
• Tuesday October 5th
  • Brown versus Davenport – In 2008, Ervine Davenport was convicted of first degree murder by a jury after being handcuffed at his feet, waist and hands throughout the trial. Because of the shackles, Davenport argued that the prosecution failed to show that the shackles did not inappropriately affect the jury’s decision. The court is expected to determine the standard necessary to provide federal habeas corpus relief to an individual in state custody.
  • Hemphill versus New York – Darrell Hemphill has been tried in a New York State court and convicted of second degree murder. During the trial, the court ruled that the defense counsel’s evidence to another prosecutor opened the door to respond with testimony from previous trials – something that is normally excluded by the Sixth Amendment. It is expected that the court will determine whether and under what circumstances a defendant will forfeit his or her rights under the Clause of the Sixth Amendment in question.
• Wednesday October 6th

Oct 11th – Oct 15th

• Tuesday October 12th
  • Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, PSC – In 2018 Kentucky enacted state law criminalizing a particular method of abortion “prior to performing a procedure that will result in fetal death.” EMW Women’s Surgical Center (EMW), the state’s only licensed outpatient abortion facility, alleged it prohibited this method of abortion and violated the protection of abortion rights in the Fourteenth Amendment under Roe v. Calf. While the District Court ruled in EMW’s favor and overruled the law, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron asked the US 6th Court of Appeals to join the case to defend the law. The court denied his motion and agreed with the district court’s ruling, saying the law unduly incriminated anyone it restricted. The US Supreme Court will make its first direct argument on abortion in this session at this session, determining whether a civil servant can intervene in a case to defend an invalid state law and discuss the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment on Abortion.
• Wednesday October 13th
  • United States versus Tsarnaev – In 2013, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev set off two homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon. In 2015, Dzhokhar was tried and convicted on 30 counts related to the bombings and sentenced to death. However, he appealed to the First District Court of Appeals that the jury and venue selection had violated his constitutional rights and that the use of the death penalty for some of his convictions was wrong. The US Supreme Court is expected to review whether Dzhokhar’s appeals are valid.
  • Babcock v. Maid – David Babcock served in the Michigan National Guard for over three years, then returned to flying school for over 33 years as a technician with two National Guard status. After retiring in 2009, he began receiving payments for the Civil Service Old Age Pension System (CSRS) and military retirement benefit. After his full retirement in 2014, he applied for social benefits. While his application was approved, his benefits were cut because of his CSRS pension. Babcock argued, however, that members of a uniformed service are usually not affected by a cut in their services due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), for which he qualified due to his dual status. The Supreme Court is expected to determine whether a dual status military technology civil servant’s pension falls under the WEP.
    • Why is it important to Amarillo? Due to Amarillo’s links with the armed forces, between nearby Cannon AFB and community employing agencies such as Pantex, and the sizable population of veterans, benefits and WEP could have an impact on neighbors across the region.

How these cases will resolve and what impact they will have on the future of the country and the Amarillo community remains to be seen. However, MyHighPlains.com will continue to monitor the situation closely.