Justice Benjamin R. Curtis resigned from the Supreme Court on this day in 1857. He is perhaps best known for leaking his dissenting opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford before the ruling was handed down, enabling at least one newspaper to predict – and then report on – the decision in advance. Curtis reportedly resigned in part because of the ensuing feud between himself and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.
Read more Planes, beer, and forfeiture
At the Court
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court the Trump administration’s request to pause a district-court order barring the government from removing noncitizens to countries that are not identified in their removal orders without first providing the noncitizens an opportunity to raise their concerns about facing persecution or torture there. The court also announced that it would hear argument in December on, among other things, the legality of third-country removals and whether the district court had the authority to hear the dispute and offer class-wide relief. For more on the case, see the On Site section below.
Also on Tuesday, the court denied for a stay of execution from Curtis Beasley, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Carolyn Monfort. Hours later, Beasley was executed in Florida.
Later on Tuesday, the court a request for a stay of execution from Christa Pike, who is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee today for the murder of Colleen Slemmer.
Read more Supreme Court allows for execution of only woman on Tennessee’s death row
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 later this week.
Monday, Oct. 5, marks the official start of the 2026-27 term. The justices will hear two oral arguments that day.