Justices take up Texas woman’s claim against USPS

The Supreme Court on Monday morning added one new case, involving a Texas woman’s claim against the U.S. Postal Service, to its docket for the 2025-26 term. The announcement came as part of a list of orders from the justices’ private conference on Thursday, April 17.

The court granted U.S. Postal Service v. Konan, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act for claims that “arise out of the loss” or “miscarriage” of “letters or postal matter” does not apply to claims that stem from a USPS employee’s intentional failure to deliver mail to a designated address. (John Elwood discussed the case in more detail in his Relist Watch column last week.)

The justices also asked the Trump administration for its views in a case brought against Home Depot under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. There is no deadline for the solicitor general to file his brief on behalf of the government.

The court once again did not act on several high-profile petitions for review that have been pending for several weeks, including challenges to Rhode Island’s ban on large-capacity magazines and Maryland’s ban on military-style assault rifles, as well as a challenge to the transfer to a mining company of federal land in Arizona that the San Carlos Apache Tribe regards as a sacred site. 

The justices will meet again on Friday, April 25. Orders from that conference are expected on Monday, April 28, at 9:30 a.m.

This article was originally published at Howe on the Court.