Supreme Court conference orders expected from the May 28 conference—watch for late grants as the docket calendar thins.
May 25–31, 2026 · October Term 2025 · Memorial Day week · late-May merits drop
9–0
Flowers Foods, Inc. v. Brock · No. 24-935
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for a unanimous Court on May 28 that the Federal Arbitration Act’s transportation-worker exemption covers Colorado distributors who never leave the state—so long as the baked goods they deliver are on an interstate journey from Flowers’s multi-state bakery network. The ruling is the fourth consecutive case expanding § 1’s reach and keeps wage-and-hour class actions in federal court for thousands of franchise route drivers.
Sources: SCOTUSblog — Amy Howe, May 28, 2026 · LII — Flowers Foods, Inc. v. Brock
The Court rejected Flowers’s theory that workers must cross state lines or touch interstate vehicles to qualify under 9 U.S.C. § 1.
“Make this case the fourth.”
— Justice Gorsuch, slip op. (summarizing the Court’s post-Saxon / Bissonnette line)
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) · No. 24-556
8–1
Justice Amy Coney Barrett held that “extraordinary and compelling reasons” for compassionate release do not include attacks on the validity of a conviction. Joe Fernandez, serving consecutive life terms for a murder-for-hire scheme, must pursue innocence claims through habeas under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, not sentence-reduction motions.
Dissent
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson argued Congress preserved district-court flexibility to address potential inequities in sentencing—not to create a second habeas channel, but to leave room for relief when circumstances are genuinely extraordinary.
Sources: LII — Fernandez v. United States · Courthouse News — May 28, 2026
The same morning, a 6–3 Court held that nonretroactive changes in federal sentencing law—and a 2023 Sentencing Commission policy treating certain disparities as “extraordinary”—cannot justify compassionate release for Daniel Rutherford and co-defendant Johnnie Carter, whose armed bank robberies drew 42- and 70-year terms under since-reformed stacking rules.
Sources: Law.com — National Law Journal, May 28, 2026 · LII — Rutherford v. United States, No. 24-820
EOIR adopts a policy requiring immigration judges to obtain supervisory approval before public speeches tied to official duties.
The National Association of Immigration Judges sues in the Eastern District of Virginia, arguing First and Fifth Amendment violations.
The Fourth Circuit vacates dismissal anyway, raising MSPB dysfunction the parties never argued—violating the party-presentation rule.
May 26 per curiam opinion in Margolin v. National Association of Immigration Judges, No. 25-767: reverse and remand; covered employees proceed under the Civil Service Reform Act.
Sources: SCOTUSblog — May 26, 2026 · LII — Margolin v. NAIJ
Original jurisdiction · May 26, 2026
The Court declined Florida’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint against California and Washington, which alleged those states issue commercial driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants in violation of federal safety law. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, writing the Court “cannot refuse to hear suits between States” when the dispute involves highway safety and Florida has no other forum.
Two weeks after the Supreme Court summarily vacated a permanent injunction in the Allen v. Milligan line, the same panel preliminarily barred Secretary Wes Allen from using the legislature’s 2023 congressional plan—found after trial to intentionally discriminate against Black voters—and ordered the race-blind special-master map for August 11 special primaries and the November general election.
Follow-up to last edition’s Alabama primary coverage: Tuesday’s statewide vote proceeded under contested lines, but this order resets the congressional calendar for four districts.
Sources: CourtListener — Milligan panel order, May 26, 2026 · Voting Rights Lab — May 26, 2026
Board action · March 16, 2026
Rename the portico the “Trump Kennedy Center” without congressional sign-off.
Judge Cooper · May 29, 2026
In Beatty v. Trump, No. 25-cv-4480, Judge Christopher Cooper held the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Act forbids renaming absent Congress and that fiduciary duties bar a total shutdown inconsistent with incremental capital repairs.
Sources: D.D.C. — preliminary injunction order, May 29, 2026 · Common Dreams — May 29, 2026
A May 30 complaint in the Southern District of Texas alleges Nathan Fuller raised roughly $12.3 million from about 150 investors through Privvy Investments LLC, promising high-frequency crypto arbitrage and insurance protections while spending only about 3% of funds on actual trades—and routing millions to gambling, travel, and Ponzi-style repayments.
Source: CoinDesk — May 30, 2026
18 U.S.C. § 1836(d) — three-year limitations clock starts when a plaintiff has “access plus similarity” knowledge, not when litigation-ready proof exists.
Federal Circuit (Dyk, J.) reverses a $59.4 million DTSA judgment on insulin patch-pump trade secrets; Judge Prost dissents.
Insulet photographed EOFlow’s EOPatch at a 2019 trade show but waited until August 2023 to sue—too late, the majority said.
Sources: Justia — No. 25-1807, May 28, 2026 · IPWatchdog — Eileen McDermott
In a May 28 precedential decision, the court vacated a Patent Trial and Appeal Board obviousness finding against Go1 USA’s challenge to an OpenSesame patent, holding that predictable step-order choices remain obvious even without a separate reference teaching the sequence—expert testimony grounded in KSR’s “ordinary creativity” standard was enough.
Source: IPWatchdog — May 28, 2026
After Louisiana v. Callais, Tennessee’s legislature dissolved the state’s only majority-Black congressional district in a three-day May special session. Federal plaintiffs in Sherman v. Hargett, No. 3:26-cv-00616, allege intentional racial cracking and First Amendment retaliation; a preliminary-injunction motion remains pending in the Middle District as election officials prepare an August 6 primary under the new lines.
Sources: Tennessee Lookout — May 7, 2026 · ACLU of Tennessee — verified complaint
June opinion season accelerates after Memorial Day. Track Monday order lists, Thursday hand-downs, and the remand dockets flowing from this week’s arbitration, sentencing, and redistricting decisions.
Supreme Court conference orders expected from the May 28 conference—watch for late grants as the docket calendar thins.
Merits opinions typically issue on these days; pair SCOTUSblog’s calendar with client alerts on labor arbitration, sentencing, and civil-service channels.
Alabama special congressional primaries in Districts 1, 2, 6, and 7 under the Milligan panel’s race-blind map—briefing on appeals should begin once mandates issue.
Tennessee congressional primary under challenged 2026 maps—watch Middle District of Tennessee for injunction rulings in Sherman.
Beatty v. Trump — parties file joint status report proposing briefing schedule after Kennedy Center preliminary injunction.
Calendar: SCOTUSblog — live calendar