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Polybius

(19,040 posts)
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 02:36 PM Mar 2022

Let's say a Supreme Court Justice resigned today because of health reasons or whatever...

What happens to the cases coming up in April, May, or June? Will their vote be on record, or will any case that's decided after they leave be with only 8 Justices?

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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bucolic_frolic

(48,412 posts)
3. Don't get your hopes up. The only reason he'll resign is if his owners decide he'll talk too much
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 02:41 PM
Mar 2022

He was only allowed to sit and be silent. Obviously.

unblock

(54,489 posts)
4. Posthumous judgments/opinions have happened in federal courts of appeal
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 02:59 PM
Mar 2022

But not, afaik, at the Supreme Court.

I don't know if this is policy of if the question has ever come up.

Polybius

(19,040 posts)
5. The right-wing needs him until at least June
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 03:01 PM
Mar 2022

That's when the abortion and NY gun-control cases will be decided. I expect a 5-4 decision on the former, and a 6-3 one on the latter.

Response to unblock (Reply #4)

Beastly Boy

(11,609 posts)
7. A purely hypothetical question.
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 03:39 PM
Mar 2022

And a purely hypothetical answer would be: eight justices will make the decision. Not sure what happens in the event of a tie. I believe the case goes back to the previous court or the decision of that court prevails.

But I very much doubt that Kavanaugh will resign any time soon.

Lettuce Be

(2,339 posts)
8. They continue with the justices they have
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 03:53 PM
Mar 2022

You can't vote on a case before hearing it, so he couldn't vote. They had only eight the entire time they left a seat vacant because it was "an election year." Still hard to believe they were able to get away with that.

Princess Turandot

(4,835 posts)
10. They vote at the Friday conference immediately following the oral arguments for a case..
Fri Mar 25, 2022, 04:57 PM
Mar 2022

Then the decisions gets committed in writing by whomever is assigned to writing the opinion, in a process that can take awhile.

So, if it's after oral arguments/conference for a case that the hypothetical justice departs, their vote would normally count. If they departed before arguments on a case, they are no longer involved in the outcome.

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