Alaska Employment Law

Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog listened, and says:

If the Supreme Court voted immediately in the huge oil spill case heard on Wednesday, and voted the sentiments the Justices expressed throughout 90 minutes of oral argument, this might well be the outcome: Exxon Mobil Corp. and its shipping subsidiary may well have to pay some punitive damages, but not $2.5 billion.  The company’s core arguments — that any award of punitive damages violates two centuries of maritime law history and modern congressional policy, and that it was not responsible for the ship captain’s misconduct that led to the spill — did not appear to have fared well, although those points did find some sympathy on the bench. But the backup argument — that $2.5 billion in damages was just too high — loomed as the likely point on which a majority of an eight-Justice Court could agree (with some uncertainty about what the exact final figure might be).

Afternoon Update: Here’s the transcript of the argument. And Eugene Volokh on the recusal issue (and possibility of a 4-4 affirmance) created by Justice Alito’s ownership of Exxon stock.