Good morning and welcome to Supreme Court Brief. The justices' mid-term break is coming to an end. They will be back on the bench for February arguments after Monday's holiday. Civil and human rights groups recently urged Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to repudiate the Insular Cases. We take a look at their plea. An eight-year-long effort to hold gunmaker Remington accountable for the 2012 Sandy Hook killings ended in settlement. Munger Tolles' Don Verrilli recounts his team's role in holding off Supreme Court review in that case. And scroll down for some thoughts on what may happen if the justices don't overrule Roe v. Wade.

Thanks for reading. We welcome feedback and tips. Contact Marcia Coyle at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MarciaCoyle.

U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Garland, Prelogar Urged to Condemn Insular Cases

The Supreme Court and the U.S. Justice Department have yet to officially repudiate the so-called Insular Cases, a much criticized line of Supreme Court decisions, now more than 120 years old. Those cases held that the "alien races" and "savage tribes" of U.S. territories are not entitled to full constitutional rights and protections as residents of the states. But that has not discouraged the efforts of human rights and civil rights groups, politicians and others to see those decisions overruled or firmly abandoned.

Civil and human rights groups recently sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urging their department "to help dismantle this egregious example of systemic racism by publicly condemning the Insular Cases and bringing an end to any reliance on them in future court filings."