Supreme Court Grants Cert Petition in Unusual Summer Order
On July 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a surprise order granting certiorari in the case of Jouppi v. Alaska, which had been conferenced on June 29 but not acted upon. The case concerns whether courts may consider the gravity of the underlying offense in the abstract or must consider the specific defendant's wrongdoing when determining excessive fines. The petition was filed in August 2025 and was held pending the resolution of Pung v. Isabella County. The three-week delay between conference and grant is highly unusual, with possible explanations including internal deliberations, a Justice wanting more time, or summer discussions among Justices. SCOTUSBlog identified similar summer grants in 2012 and 2021. The article notes this as a data point supporting arguments to eliminate the Supreme Court's summer recess.
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