Supreme Court Conferences on Must-Carry Challenge

Cablevision's challenge to the must-carry rules is up for consideration at the Supreme Court justice's April 30 private conference. According to the court, the various briefs in the case were distributed April 14 for conferencing on April 30. NCTA, C-SPAN, Time Warner, and Discovery have all filed amicus briefs supporting Cablevision. The discussion of the case means a decision on whether to grant cert (hear the case) is likely to come Monday. That is not a guarantee. The court's recent decision to hear the video game violence case, for example, was conferenced last fall, pointed out one veteran attorney who has argued before the High Court. "But it is likely to come Monday." Even the court says so. "Generally, if a case is considered at a Conference, viewers can expect that the disposition of a case will be announced on an Orders List that will be released at 10 a.m. the following Monday," the court explains on its Web site.