Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett will hear her first oral arguments since being confirmed and seated to the nation’s highest court last week.
The court will hear two cases on Monday. First up, at 10 a.m., is U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, Inc., which is a Freedom of Information Act case. At 11 a.m., the court will hear arguments in Salinas v. Railroad Retirement Board.
All eyes will be on the court Wednesday when the justices will hear arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The case centers around whether or not a city can prevent religious organizations that do not place foster children with same-sex couples from participating in its foster program.
A couple of hot-button cases will be heard by the court next week, including Texas v. California on Nov. 10, which Democrats spent much of Barrett’s confirmation hearings questioning her about. The case will ask justices to consider the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The court will also hear arguments on an immigration-related case next week.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Barrett will not get her first opportunity to sit on the Supreme Court bench. Instead, justices will hear arguments via a livestream remotely that anyone in the country can listen to.
The oral arguments are done on a traditional phone line, which will be structured in a way much different than typical cases for the courtroom. Lawyers will open their arguments before each justice gets five minutes to question the lawyers. Justices will ask their questions in order of seniority, meaning Barrett will be the last justice to ask questions.
Chief Justice John Roberts does not plan to give a formal statement welcoming Barrett to the court, though it is possible some of the other justices will acknowledge her joining them for the first time on Monday.
The Supreme Court released an order list from its Friday conference, which would have been the first Barrett participated in as a justice. However, the court said “Justice Barrett took no part in the consideration or decision of the motions or petitions appearing on this Order List.”
Conferences are closed-door meetings where the court decides which cases will be put on its docket.
