The Supreme Court granted certiorari in three civil cases today, SCOTUSblog reports. Two are law-enforcement related. One is Ashcroft v. Iqbal, No. 07-1015 on post-9/11 suits against high DoJ officials.

The other is Haywood v. Drown on state court jurisdiction in a prisoner § 1983 suit despite a state statute to the contrary. The New York Court of Appeals opinion upholding the statute is here. "Thus, while state courts may hear § 1983 claims, and while the Court has always assumed that state courts must afford an hospitable forum to the vindication of federal rights, the Court has not explicitly held that state courts must hear § 1983 claims." 4 Rotunda and Nowak, Treatise on Constitutional Law, § 19.15(c), p. 518 (4th ed. 2008).