Trump taxes, elections and abortion: Barrett's first week

Barrett is sworn in to US Supreme Court 2:36

Washington (CNN) -

Amy Coney Barrett is preparing to join the Supreme Court as justices are ready to take action on a number of important petitions before them, including several related to next week's election.

Barrett will solidify a conservative 6-3 majority in the superior court and will be able to participate in the court's action on the motions.

This could give Republican litigants an additional ally while judges review the various requests.

Here's a look at the top requests awaiting Barrett:

Trump tax case

The judges are ready to decide soon if a New York prosecutor will have access to Trump's financial documents from January 2011 through August 2019, including his tax returns.

Last July, the Supreme Court, voting 7-2, rejected the president's broad claims of immunity from a state criminal subpoena requesting his tax returns.

And he said that as president he was not entitled to any kind of high standard that is not available to ordinary citizens.

The judges sent the case back to the lower court so that the president could make more specific objections regarding the scope of the subpoena.

Trump's lawyers told lower courts that the subpoena was too broad and issued in bad faith.

But the courts once again rejected those arguments.

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An appeals court ruled earlier this month that "there is nothing to suggest that this is anything other than standard documents that are often relevant to a jury investigation into possible financial or business misconduct."

Trump's personal attorneys then took the case to the Supreme Court, urging justices to stay the lower court's ruling while the justices considered whether to accept the appeal.

If the judges deny the request, the subpoena can go ahead although the documents will be protected from public disclosure due to the secrecy rules of the investigating jury.

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Pennsylvania Ballot Receipt Extensions

Pennsylvania Republicans asked the Supreme Court on Friday to block a ballot receipt extension that would allow them to be counted if received within three days of Election Day, even if they do not have a legible postmark.

Lawyers acknowledged in the brief that the Supreme Court was split 4-4 on an emergency stay request on the issue last week, and Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberals to allow the extension. .

Five justices are needed to grant the Republicans' request, making Barrett's vote critical on the new request.

The Republican Party is now asking justices to take the case formally, put it on an expedited schedule, and decide the matter before Election Day.

“Because the election is imminent, these questions must be answered immediately.

In the absence of swift action by this Court, the petitioner's rights of appeal, as well as the jurisdiction of this Court over the case, could be lost, ”argued the Republicans' attorneys in the filing.

Former Acting Attorney General Donald Verrilli represents Democrats and urged justices to deny the Republican Party's "extraordinary and unwarranted request for expedition."

And allow Pennsylvania to "hold its federal elections under existing rules."

Wisconsin Ballot Counting and Requests

A case that appeared to be waiting for Barrett was announced minutes before the Senate vote on Monday.

These were petitions from Wisconsin Democrats, asking judges to allow ballots to be counted six days after the election and whether vulnerable covid-19 voters and others in the state could get replacement ballots by email.

A federal appeals court had ruled earlier this month in favor of Republicans, holding that ballots can only be counted if they are received before Election Day.

A Supreme Court of 5-3 agreed.

Asking the Supreme Court for help, the Democrats' attorneys argued that "confidence in Wisconsin's electoral process will be shattered if tens of thousands of valid absentee votes cast on time are not counted because they arrived two or three days after elections due to mail delays and other factors beyond the control of voters.

But a lawyer for the Republican-led state legislature said the state laws were "extremely generous" and were directly within "their broad authority to maintain or make changes to electoral rules to address COVID-19."

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North Carolina Ballot Count Extension

North Carolina Republicans are asking the Supreme Court to block a nine-day extension of the ballot count if they are received before Election Day and reinstate a three-day extension established by the legislature last June.

A federal appeals court had allowed the nine-day extension that was set by the State Board of Elections amid the pandemic, as part of a legal settlement.

"The extension simply makes it easier for more people to vote absentee amid a global pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans," the appeals court ruled.

Republicans challenged the State Board's action, arguing that it had tried to "rewrite the electoral code" and usurp the authority of the General Assembly that had only allowed the three-day extension.

In court reports, Republican attorneys said the state board's decision "undermines the equal protection rights of voters and is already causing voter confusion and chaos."

Minnesota Congressional Election Date

A Republican candidate for Minnesota's Second Congressional District is asking justices to intervene in a case over whether his election will take place on November 3 or February 9, 2021, after the recent death of the Minnesota candidate. Marijuana Now Legal Party, Adam Weeks, moved the contest into next year as required by state law.

In a filing Monday, attorneys for Republican Tyler Kistner argued that the court should issue a stay of a preliminary injunction issued by a lower court that reinstated the November elections for his career, saying that if the election is held the Next week, both voters and Kistner will suffer "a huge and irreparable injury."

“By changing the rules in the middle of elections and thus subjecting voters to different rules based on when they cast their votes, the court order violates basic principles of equitable protection and seriously harms affected voters and the public interest, ”the lawyers wrote.

Kistner is challenging Democratic Rep. Angie Craig in the race.

Mississippi abortion case

As abortion rights advocates and opponents argue over whether Barrett's confirmation would spell the end of Roe vs.

Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision, judges will consider on Friday whether or not to hear a case that could directly challenge the precedent.

The case concerns Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, which Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law in 2018. The law made exceptions only for medical emergencies or cases where there is a “severe fetal abnormality,” but not for incidents. of rape or incest.

A federal judge in Mississippi struck down the law in November 2018, and the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the ruling late last year.

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But in supplemental reports filed Thursday, Mississippi prosecutor Lynn Fitch referenced the latest Supreme Court case heard by the court, a Louisiana regulation involving hospital admission privileges.

Roberts' concurring opinion, which appears to set back a precedent for how courts should analyze the benefits and burdens of a particular abortion law, had been interpreted differently by different circuit courts, he argued.

"This case remains an ideal vehicle for quickly resolving both that question and the first question posed: the contradictions in the decisions of this Court on the use of 'feasibility' as a bright line to measure pro-life legislation," he wrote Fitch.

Amy coney barrett