Returning to a subject he addressed last year, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer on Monday said death sentences are arbitrary and their constitutionality should be examined. In a dissent filed in one of three death penalty cases the court chose not to hear, Breyer said the cases involved “especially cruel and unusual circumstances.” He also argued that individuals who are executed are not the “worst of the worst” but rather are “chosen at random” perhaps based on geography, views of individual prosecutors or race. The ABA Journal looks at the three cases denied by the court.

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday rejected the final two challenges to an estimated $1 billion settlement between the NFL and more than 20,000 former players who have been diagnosed with brain injuries linked to repeated concussions. Players who already have been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or dementia now could begin receiving payments in 90 to 120 days, CBS News reports. The remaining lawsuits had accused the league of hiding what it knew about concussion risks but the NFL denied those claims. WREG TV has the story.

States can require Internet retailers to tell customers how much they owe in sales taxes thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision yesterday that could help officials recoup billions of dollars lost to online retailers. The court declined to hear a challenge to a Colorado law requiring online sellers to notify customers and the state how much they owe in taxes. At least three other states – Louisiana, Oklahoma and Vermont – have passed similar laws. Though the court did not rule on the merits of the case, states are likely to see the move “as a green light to step up collection efforts,” WRCB TV reports. 

A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared ready to side with a man sentenced to death for a 1980 Houston murder who is challenging how Texas gauges whether a defendant has intellectual disabilities that would preclude execution, Reuters reports. The court ruled in 2002 that execution of the intellectually disabled violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. At issue in this case is whether Texas is using an obsolete standard to assess whether the defendant is intellectually disabled.

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued its first ruling of the October term, deciding unanimously against a Puerto Rican politician who had sought to avoid a second trial on corruption charges after his original conviction was tossed out. The decision was a setback to Hector Martinez Maldonado, who served in Puerto Rico’s Senate from 2005 until his 2011 conviction, as well as businessman Juan Bravo Fernandez, the former president of a private security company. Prosecutors have argued that Fernandez sought to bribe Maldonado to win passage of legislation that would benefit his business. Reuters has more on the case.

Those who suggest that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy may be getting ready to retire point to several recent developments: Kennedy has scheduled his next clerkship reunion for 2017, one year shy of the five-year cycle he typically has followed; he did not teach abroad this summer, suggesting he may be winding down his schedule; and he has hired just one law clerk for the 2017 term. But the court’s spokeswoman says Kennedy is in the process of hiring more clerks and has plans to return to Salzburg in 2017. As for the timing of the reunion, he wanted to hold it the year he turned 80, she says. The ABA Journal has the story.

When Donald J. Trump issued his list of 21 potential nominees to the Supreme Court in September, he made a vow. “This list is definitive,” he said, “and I will choose only from it in picking future justices of the Supreme Court.” According to the New York Times, the list manages “to reassure the conservative legal establishment and to represent a rebellion against it.” But the major theme, the paper argues, is that Trump’s picks primarily went to law schools other than Harvard or Yale and reside in the country’s heartland rather than the coasts. The list, like his campaign, is a “revolt against the elites,” the paper concludes.

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday raised doubts about the temporary appointment of a former labor official in a case that could limit the president’s power to fill top government posts, the Associated Press reports. The justices are considering whether Lafe Solomon was allowed to serve as acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board while he was waiting for Senate confirmation to fill the role permanently. A federal appeals court ruled last year that Solomon’s tenure was invalid. A ruling from the high court is expected by the end of June. WRCB-TV has the story.

The U.S. Supreme Court today live-streamed a memorial honoring the late Justice Antonin Scalia. It was the court’s first-ever live video webcast, the ABA Journal reports. Former Scalia law clerk Paul Cappucio, executive vice president and general counsel of Time Warner, led the event. Gabe Roth with Fix the Court, which has called for greater court transparency, said the decision to webcast the event was “a shock, though a much appreciated one.” A replay is available on the court’s website.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to take up the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy who challenged a Virginia school district policy that prevented him from using the boys’ restroom at his high school. The case will test the Obama administration’s directive that schools must let transgender students use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, the Washington Post reports. In August, the justices put on hold a lower court ruling that had sided with Grimm, while they decided whether to hear the case. The stay will remain in effect until the court rules on the merits.