The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Republican Party of Utah v Cox on Friday, January 4, 2019. This is the case in which the party argues that the First Amendment’s freedom of association clause allows the party to decide for itself how to nominate candidates. Any news from the conference will not be revealed until Monday, January 7, at the earliest.

It will be interesting to see whether the Court asks the state to respond in advance of the conference date. If the Court doesn’t ask for a response before the conference date, it is a virtual certainty that the Court will reject the case.