The Supreme Court has officially set a date — Sept. 29 — to consider at a private conference whether it will review Ghislaine Maxwell’s challenge to her sex trafficking convictions.
This typical scheduling development might not normally be relevant to national political news. But Maxwell is at the center of a controversy stemming from the Trump administration’s refusal to release all information related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier. Maxwell was convicted of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.
Indeed, her lawyers referenced her pending petition in a letter Tuesday to the U.S. House Oversight Committee. Responding to the committee’s bid to depose her, the lawyers said they wanted to put off any congressional testimony until after her petition is resolved (or if President Donald Trump grants her clemency first).
To be clear, this scheduling development is normal. It might be the only normal thing to happen in the Epstein saga. All it means is that the justices will consider her petition alongside others as the court returns from summer break ahead of the new term that starts in October.
The court has regularly scheduled private conferences throughout the term, and it adds new cases to the docket on a rolling basis. It takes four justices to grant review, and the court rejects most petitions.
Keep in mind that a case being put on for conference on a given day doesn’t mean we will hear that day whether the justices are taking a given case. The justices don’t always immediately announce such decisions, and they sometimes consider petitions at multiple conferences before deciding. There’s no deadline for the court’s decision.
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