According to the U.S. Supreme Court’s monthly argument calendar for the month of December, 2008, the Court will hear oral arguments in Philip Morris v. Williams (Williams III) on December 3, 2008.

To recap, the issued presented in Williams III is:

Whether, after this Court has adjudicated the merits of a party’s federal claim and remanded the case to state court with instructions to “apply” the correct constitutional standard, the state court may interpose–for the first time in the litigation–a state-law procedural bar that is neither firmly established nor regularly followed.

See our prior post for links to the opening brief on the merits and the various amicus briefs in support of the petitioner.

Hat tip: SCOTUSblog.