Summary: This week the Court heard six cases in oral arguments and granted review to three new cases. On this episode we dicsuss the following cases: Walker v. Sons of Confederate Veterans - Do the messages and symbols on state-issued specialty license plates qualify as government speech immune from any requirement of viewpoint neutrality? Brumfield v. Cain - Whether a state court that denies funding to an indigent petitioner who has no other means of obtaining evidence of his mental retardation has denied petitioner his “opportunity to be heard,” contrary to Atkins and Ford v. Wainwright, and his constitutional right to be provided with the “basic tools” for an adequate defense. Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads - Section 207 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 empowers Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to jointly develop performance measures to enhance enforcement of the statutory priority Amtrak’s passenger rail service has over other trains. The question presented is whether Section 207 effects an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to a private entity. Warger v. Shauers - Whether Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b) permits a party moving for a new trial based on juror dishonest during voir dire to introduce juror testimony about statements made during deliberations that tend to show the alleged dishonesty.
