Biden Administration Urges Supreme Court to Allow Schools to Censor Student Expression Online
The case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., court file 20-255, was heard April 28.
The Biden administration was represented in a 112-minute telephonic hearing by Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm L. Stewart.
The petitioner, the school district in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, was represented by Lisa S. Blatt. The student involved in the case, known in court documents as B.L., was represented by David D. Cole, the national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. B.L., or Brandi Levy, was a minor at the time the lawsuit was initiated and legal files reduced her name to initials to protect her identity.
On March 1, the Supreme Court heard arguments in
Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., No. 19-1458. The case presented two questions: (1) whether, for purposes of the Appointments Clause, administrative patent judges (APJs) are principal officers who must be appointed by the President with the Senate’s advice and consent, and (2) whether, if APJs are principal officers, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit cured the Appointments Clause defect in the statute by severing the application of 5 U.S.C. § 7513(a), the provision that restricted removal of APJs.
Below is a brief summary of some of the high points of the day’s arguments.