The Supreme Court started yesterday with 14 decisions yet to deliver and only reduced the number by two—neither of them the Trump immunity case nor the Loper case concerning the future of the agency deference doctrine of...more
6/27/2024
/ Article III ,
Bribery ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Misleading Statements ,
Murthy v Missouri ,
Public Officials ,
SCOTUS ,
Snyder v United States ,
Social Media ,
Standing
With the current term of the Supreme Court soon to end, the run of decisions in which the Justices have been unanimous or close to it is being displaced by the “tougher” ones, in which there is substantial disagreement....more
6/24/2024
/ Confrontation Clause ,
Consent Decrees ,
Due Process ,
Expert Testimony ,
Expert Witness ,
Firearms ,
Immigrants ,
Non-Citizens ,
Rio Grande Compact ,
SCOTUS ,
Second Amendment ,
Spouses ,
Supreme Court Justices ,
Texas v New Mexico and Colorado ,
United States v Rahimi ,
US Department of State ,
Visas ,
Water Rights
With a significant mass of cases left to decide and only a few weeks to issue the opinions, the U.S. Supreme Court has reduced the backlog by four yesterday. None of them, however, resolves the future of Chevron deference or...more
6/21/2024
/ City Councils ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Expert Testimony ,
Federal Rules of Evidence ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Malicious Prosecution ,
Misdemeanors ,
Moore v US ,
Probable Cause ,
Retaliation ,
Retaliatory Arrests ,
SCOTUS ,
Shareholders ,
Summary Judgment
Splitting along predictable philosophical lines, the Supreme Court held last week in Garland v. Cargill that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a rule...more
Of the Supreme Court opinions issued today, the one that will draw the greatest public attention is Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, unanimously holding that the pro-life organizational...more
6/14/2024
/ Abortion ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
NLRB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
SCOTUS ,
Starbucks ,
Starbucks Corp. v McKinney ,
Trademarks ,
Unions ,
USPTO ,
Vidal v Elster
Another Three-for Thursday at the Supreme Court, with none of the decisions a landmark but each of utmost relevance to legal specialists and technicians in the fields of bankruptcy, estate taxation, and Indian affairs....more
6/6/2024
/ Asbestos ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Becerra v San Carlos Apache Tribe ,
Business Assets ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Connelly v United States ,
Creditors ,
Debtors ,
Estate Tax ,
Healthcare ,
Indian Health Service (IHS) ,
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Native American Issues ,
Reorganizations ,
SCOTUS ,
Truck Insurance Exchange v Kaiser Gypsum Co Inc
Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down three decisions on a Thursday, each of them substantively important to the individuals involved, but all of them essentially involving the Supreme Court’s instructing lower...more
5/31/2024
/ Bank of America ,
Cantero v Bank of America NA ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Death Penalty ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Evidence ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Firearms ,
First Amendment ,
Liability Insurance ,
Murder ,
National Bank Act ,
NRA ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Supreme Court Justices
The U.S. Supreme Court decided three cases on Thursday, one of them on the main sequence of the practices of most of the readers of this blog and the others worth knowing about, both as lawyers and as citizens....more
5/24/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984 ,
Contract Terms ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Illegal Drugs ,
Minorities ,
Racial Gerrymandering ,
SCOTUS ,
Voting Rights
On May 16—for the second time in two weeks—the U.S. Supreme Court, this time unanimously, has taken a lenient, plaintiff-friendly view of whether a filing deadline is jurisdictional in the sense that it is governed by the...more
5/20/2024
/ Administrative Agencies ,
CFPB v Community Financial Services Association of America ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Discovery ,
Federal Funding ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Furloughs ,
Harrow v Department of Defense ,
Jurisdiction ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Music Industry ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
The Copyright Act ,
Warner Chappell Music v Nealy
The U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases yesterday, in each of which timing played a decisive role in the outcome. These cases did not produce the unanimity that has characterized most of the Court’s decisions so far this...more
5/10/2024
/ Asset Seizure ,
Class Action ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Drug Possession ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Due Process ,
Forfeiture ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Music Industry ,
Personal Property ,
SCOTUS ,
Supreme Court Justices ,
The Copyright Act ,
Warner Chappell Music v Nealy
A unanimous Supreme Court has eased the route for a plaintiff to prove a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis.
...more
The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday morning in the case of Joseph Fischer, one of more than 300 people convicted of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding: the congressional certification on January 6, 2021, of...more
4/17/2024
/ DeVillier v Texas ,
Donald Trump ,
Entitlements ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Fischer v United States ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Insurrection ,
Judicial Proceedings ,
Law Enforcement ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Oral Argument ,
Political Campaigns ,
Presidential Elections ,
Rudisill v McDonough ,
SCOTUS ,
Takings Clause ,
Veterans Administration ,
Veterans' Benefits
Some commentators claim there are bitter divisions among the Justices, roiling the Court and its processes. Many of the same commentators were critical of the Court’s decision holding that former President Trump was not...more
4/12/2024
/ Building Permits ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Construction Project ,
George Sheetz v County of El Dorado ,
Impact Fees ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Development ,
SCOTUS ,
Supreme Court Justices ,
Takings Clause ,
Traffic Impact Assessments
Yonas Fikre, a U.S. citizen who had emigrated from Sudan, found himself placed on the No Fly List by the FBI and unable to return to the United States from an international trip. This action followed Fikre’s having been...more
3/19/2024
/ Article III ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Deportation ,
FBI ,
Federal Bureau of Investigation v Fikre ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Immigrants ,
Injunctive Relief ,
International Travel ,
Migrants ,
Mootness ,
Removal Orders ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Tourists ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Visas ,
Wilkinson v Garland
On Friday, March 15, a unanimous Supreme Court decided two companion cases (Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier) that resolved a split in the Circuits concerning whether public officials can be held liable under...more
3/18/2024
/ 42 U.S.C. §1983 ,
Censorship ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Facebook ,
First Amendment ,
Government Officials ,
Lindke v Freed ,
O’Connor-Ratcliff v Garnier ,
Online Commentary ,
Personal Use ,
Right to Delete ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media
To the surprise of no one connected with the case, or who just listened to the oral argument, the Supreme Court, in a per curiam opinion (i.e., unanimously), decided the case of Trump v. Anderson, holding that states have no...more
3/5/2024
/ Donald Trump ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
General Elections ,
Insurrection ,
Lack of Authority ,
Political Campaigns ,
Presidential Elections ,
Primary Elections ,
SCOTUS ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Trump v Anderson
Most readers of this blog rarely, if ever, become involved in homicide cases.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court’s essentially unanimous decision in McElrath v. Georgia should be of interest because it deals with the issue of...more
2/21/2024
/ Article III ,
Assault ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Double Jeopardy ,
Felony Murder ,
Insanity Defense ,
Jury Trial ,
Jury Verdicts ,
McElrath v Georgia ,
Murder ,
Standing
In its frequent attempts to enforce the separation of powers that the Constitution’s framers devised as a system of checks and balances among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government, it is...more
Yesterday might ultimately be remembered as among the most consequential days in the history of the Supreme Court and the nation. That will be determined when a decision in Trump v. Anderson is issued....more
2/9/2024
/ Acheson Hotels LLC v Laufer ,
Article III ,
Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service v Kirtz ,
Donald Trump ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Insurrection ,
Mootness ,
Political Campaigns ,
Presidential Elections ,
SCOTUS ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Trump v Anderson
Although the Supreme Court already has heard a number of significant arguments, this term has not yet seen any major substantive opinions. This is not to say that there isn’t a lot going on at, or on the way to, the Court....more
12/12/2023
/ Acheson Hotels LLC v Laufer ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Article III ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Public Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Websites
June 30th is the nominal last day of the Supreme Court’s current term. The Court began the day with the long-awaited decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, another 6-3 jurisprudentially ideological split in which, per...more
7/3/2023
/ 303 Creative LLC v Elenis ,
Article III ,
Biden Administration ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Department of Education v Brown ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd v Colorado Civil Rights Commission ,
Public Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Website Design
A 6-3 Court, sharply divided along conservative and liberal jurisprudential lines, has decided the two headlining cases involving affirmative action in university admissions: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President...more
6/30/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Diversity ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina ,
Title VII
As the end of the term approaches, the Court is increasingly divided in its decisions. However, the composition of the majorities is not often the 6-3 conservative/liberal division stereotype that many observers, critics, and...more
Management-side attorneys and the businesses that they represent will be pleased with the Supreme Court’s holding in Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters....more
Of the four cases decided last Friday, the one that likely pertains to the largest number of this blog’s readers is Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, a 5-4 opinion delivered by Justice Kavanaugh, who wrote for himself, the Chief...more
6/26/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Article III ,
Automatic Stay ,
Biden Administration ,
Coinbase ,
Coinbase Inc v Bielski ,
Confessions ,
Confrontation Clause ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Evidence ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
First Amendment ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Motion to Compel ,
Removal Orders ,
Samia v United States ,
Sixth Amendment ,
Standing ,
United States v Hansen ,
US v Texas