On November 12, the U.S. Supreme Court released an orders list from its last conference, held on November 8. The Court did not issue any order for Carney v Adams, 19-309, even though it had been considered at that conference. That means the court is thinking seriously about taking the case.

The lower court in that case had struck down a provision of the Delaware constitution, which says that for most types of state courts, no one may be appointed as a judge unless he or she is a member of a party with 5% or more of the registration. This means in practice that no one can be appointed unless he or she is a registered Democrat or a registered Republican.

The Court also took no action on Thompson v Hebdon, 19-122, the case from Alaska over the state’s severe limits on campaign contributions and on out-of-state contributors. The lower court had upheld the limits.