Good morning and welcome to Supreme Court Brief. Today is the final day of the December argument session. Tuesday began with U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar engaging in a court tradition: The introduction of the newest attorney general, Merrick Garland, to the justices. Today begins with another closely watched argument, the Maine school choice challenge. But we take a look at the second argument, a significant death penalty case. Plus: A Woody Allen movie made an appearance in yesterday's arguments on the Armed Career Criminal Act.

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

Photo: California Department of Corrections

Ineffective Lawyers in Death Cases

While most ears will be tuned into this morning's big religion clause arguments in Carson v. Makin, there also is a death penalty argument before the justices that some scholars say will be critical to future death penalty cases.

And not just critical to those cases, but a "bellwether case for how extreme this court can be," said Leah Litman of the University of Michigan Law School during her recent podcast, "Strict Scrutiny."