First Monday in October

Monday, October 7 marks the official start of oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court's new term. In 1916, Congress enacted a law establishing the Court's opening date as the "first Monday in October," although the number of sessions per year and the timing of the opening day has varied throughout American history.

This new term is already packed with dozens of cases, with still more to come as the Court continues to decide on pending petitions for certiorari. The Supreme Court website provides Calendars in PDF and HTML formats. First up on Monday morning is argument in Kahler v. Kansas (docket), on the ability of individual states to abolish the insanity defense for criminal defendants.

To learn more about individual cases on the Court's docket, SCOTUSblog offers quick access to case information and filings on its October Term 2019 page, organized by argument date. Yesterday, Bloomberg published A Lawyer's Guide to the Upcoming Supreme Court Term (Bloomberg Law login may be required), highlighting several key cases on the docket this term. The ABA also publishes a regular Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases (available in HeinOnline; Duke NetID required) that provides an overview as well as legal analysis of each featured case.

For more information about researching the U.S. Supreme Court and its cases, check out the Law Library's guide to U.S. Supreme Court research or Ask a Librarian.