The U.S. Supreme Court has set a conference date of May 13 to decide whether to hear the Mississippi ballot access case, Moore v Hosemann, 09-982. The case originated in 2008 when the Secretary of State kept Brian Moore off the November ballot because his presidential elector paperwork was turned in at 5:10 p.m. instead of by 5 p.m. Moore was the Socialist Party’s presidential candidate.
Richard: What’s the process for the high court to decide whether to hear a case?
Do at least four justices have to favor hearing the case?
Yes.
…and from what i hear no official notes or record are kept on the discussion that occurs about whether or not to hear a case.
So far, Obama’s Supreme Court pick has had a fairly decent (preUSSC) record on voting rights and political rights issues.
Justice Harry Blackmun kept notes on what was said at conferences. He turned over his notes to the Library of Congress, to be made public after he died. That is why we know that Justice Scalia said, “The ballot-crowding argument is phony” after hearing the oral argument in Munro v Socialist Workers Party in 1986.
Does Justice *NO secrets in a Democracy* Scalia want SCOTUS conference stuff to be public ???