Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Two Cert Denials of Interest As SCOTUS Opens 2015 Term

In the Order List issued yesterday at the beginning of the October 2015 Term, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in hundreds cases.  Among the cases in which the Court denied review were:

Phillips v. New York (Docket No. 14-1445): In the case, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals he U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld New York's requirement that, subject to medical and religious exemptions, all children be vaccinated before attending public school. It also upheld, over free exercise objections, New York's regulation allowing officials to temporarily exclude students who are exempted from the vaccination requirement on religious grounds from school during an outbreak of a vaccine‐preventable disease. (See prior posting.) AP reports on the Court's action.

Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma v. Thorpe (Docket No. 14-1419): In the case the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals held that despite its literal language, Congress did not intend the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act to apply to protect Native American rights in a dispute between the sons of famous Native American Athlete Jim Thorpe and the Pennsylvania town that renamed itself after Thorpe in an agreement with Thorpe's widow (his third wife) to have his remains buried there.  (See prior posting). New York Daily News has more background and reports on the court's action.