At The Lectern by Horvitz & Levy

One more opinion soon and then the annual drought begins

The Supreme Court currently has only one argued but undecided case on its docket — the death penalty appeal in People v. Powell (Carl Devon).  The opinion in that case should file within the next two weeks.

After that, however, you probably won’t see another opinion for a while, likely at least a month or two.  That’s normal for this time of year.  There are usually no or few argued cases in the pipeline because the court doesn’t hear arguments in July and August, and because, under the 90-day rule, cases argued before the summer generally are decided before Labor Day.  (The only reason there hasn’t been an opinion in Powell yet is that the 90-day clock didn’t start until the completion of post-argument supplemental briefing.)

In any event, the pipeline will begin to refill tomorrow, when the court returns to the courtroom for the 5-case September calendar.