Month: April 2022

On February 23rd, the Court heard arguments in Arizona vs. City and County of San Francisco, California, a case which concerned whether states with interests should be permitted to intervene to defend a rule when the United States ceases to defend. Joining to discuss arguments in the case is Hon. Elizabeth Murrill, Solicitor General in the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office.

On November 10th, the Court heard arguments in City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising, a case which concerned whether the Austin city code’s distinction between on-premise signs, which may be digitized, and off-premise signs, which may not, is a facially unconstitutional content-based regulation under Reed v. Town of Gilbert. We are joined by Trevor Burrus, research fellow at the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, for this installment.

On Mar 3, 2022, the Court decided United States v. Zubaydah, a case which concerned whether the 9th circuit erred when it rejected the United States’ assertion of the state secrets privilege based on the court’s own assessment of potential harms to national security, and required discovery to proceed further under 28 U.S.C 1782(a) against former CIA contractors on matters concerning alleged clandestine CIA activities. In a 7-2 opinion authored by Justice Breyer, the Court held that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit’s judgment that the district court erred in dismissing Zubaydah’s discovery request on the basis of the state secrets privilege is reversed, and the case is remanded with instructions to dismiss Zubaydah’s current discovery application.

Joining us today to discuss decision this is Kate Comerford Todd, managing partner at Ellis George Cipollone in Washington, DC. Ms. Todd formerly served as Deputy Counsel to the Office of the President, Chief Counsel for the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, and has held teaching positions at both George Washington University Law School and Cornell. Ms. Todd has also clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas and Judge J. Michael Luttig of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.