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Read more Court agrees to hear arguments in important immigration case, religious zoning dispute
Hungry for more information about the 2026-27 term? In one week, Pacific Legal Foundation is hosting a virtual term preview event, with SCOTUSblog’s Zach Shemtob as one of the panelists. Register here to watch the event, which will begin at noon EDT on Thursday, Oct. 8.
At the Court
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit the execution of Christa Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. Tennessee quickly appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which on Wednesday evening for the execution to move forward over a dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Tennessee attempted to carry out the execution, but Pike survived and the execution was stopped. Gov. Bill Lee has halted the remaining execution scheduled to take place in Tennessee this year. For more on the case, see the On Site section below.
On Monday, the justices met for the annual “long conference” to consider petitions for review that built up during the summer recess. We are expecting the court to release a list of the cases granted during the conference sometime this week.
Monday, Oct. 5, marks the official start of the 2026-27 term. The justices will hear two oral arguments that day.