Publications
Greetings, Court fans! …and welcome back! While some of you may still be pondering/celebrating/cursing last term’s Hobby Lobby finale, time and the Nine march on. The October 2014 Term officially kicked off this morning with a bang (well, two, if we’re also counting the sound of Scott Harris’s gavel). The Court this morning released orders […]
Greetings, Court fans! The term has barely started and already we’ve got some catching up to do. Who knew the Court would take so many consequential actions, with so few words to explain them, so early in the term? In this update, we’ll cover the Court’s recent foray into voting rights and abortion rights, before […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back with decisions two and three of OT14 (did you already forget about Lopez v. Smith?) as well as last week’s news of cert petitions granted and likely to be granted. Police officers had a good day today, prevailing both as plaintiffs and defendants in two cases involving Section 1983. In […]
Greetings, Court fans! Another week, another summary reversal (the fourth in a row to start the Term). This time, the Ninth Circuit was back in the line of fire with Glebe v. Frost (14-95), a habeas appeal concerning the difference between structural error and harmless error, and what counts as “clearly established Federal law.” Once […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back with summaries of the first signed decisions of the term, Warger v. Shauers (13-517) on whether Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b) precludes juror testimony during a proceeding in which a party seeks to secure a new trial on the ground that another juror lied during voir dire (yep), and Integrity […]
Greetings, Court fans! Long before he became Chief, John Roberts quipped that “[o]nly Supreme Court justices and schoolchildren are expected to and do take the entire summer off.” Right now, the Justices are in the midst of a multi-week Christmas vacation that would make most school children green with envy. But we’re not complaining, as […]
Greetings, Court fans! Today, the Court handed down Burt v. Titlow (12-414), reinforcing the deferential standard of review applicable in habeas proceedings involving claims of ineffective assistance of counsel by state prisoners, and yesterday the Court issued a short per curiam decision in Stanton v. Sims (12-1217), upbraiding the Ninth Circuit in a qualified immunity […]
Greetings, Court fans! In the midst of hearing arguments and filling in its dance card for the rest of the Term, the Court has found time to issue a few early opinions. Last week brought three: an important decision on the enforceability of forum selection clauses in Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. Western District of […]
Greetings, Court fans! Another week, another batch of unanimous decisions. Three, to be precise: Sprint Communications v. Jacobs (12-815), defining (some might say confining) the scope of the Younger abstention doctrine; Kansas v. Cheever (12-609), holding that a prosecutor’s reliance on a psychiatric expert who has examined the defendant does not violate the accused’s right […]
Greetings, Court fans! In this first Update of the new year, we bring you three significant decisions and a number of cert grants. On the decision front, we have Mississippi v. AU Optronics (12-1036), in which the Court ruled that parens patriae suits brought by states are not mass actions and thus are not subject […]
Greetings, Court fans! We have two new summaries for you in this edition, with two more to come shortly. First up is Burrage v. United States (12-7515), which held that a drug dealer who supplied only one of many drugs to a drug user who ultimately dies or is seriously injured may only receive an […]
Greetings, Court fans! As promised, we’re back to wrap things up with two more decisions: Sandifer v. United States Steel Corp. (12-417), on what constitutes “changing clothes” under the Fair Labor Standards Act; and Medtronic v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC (12-1128), holding that a patentee has the burden of proving infringement even in a declaratory […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court returned from its midwinter recess this week, issuing a slew of new opinions. We’re going to break things up and bring them to you in bite-sized chunks. Today’s Update will cover Fernandez v. California (12-7822), a Fourth Amendment decision on whether a co-occupant’s consent to search is sufficient where the […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back with the three remaining decisions from last week: Walden v. Fiore (12-574), refining matters of personal jurisdiction; Chadbourne & Parke LLP v. Troice (12-79), permitting state law class actions to proceed against various persons and entities – including two law firms – accused of facilitating Allen Stanford’s massive Ponzi scheme; […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court has been busy again this week with five new opinions and five new cert grants so far. This Update covers the cert grants and two of the opinions, Lawson v. FMR LLC (12-3), holding that the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act extend to the employees of contractors and subcontractors […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back to wrap up last week’s decisions: Rosemond v. United States (12-895), on criminal aiding and abetting; Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez (12-820), addressing international child abduction; and BG Group PLC v. Republic of Argentina (12-138), discussing arbitration agreements in international bilateral investment treaties. Before we get started, though, we need to […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back with yesterday’s decision and orders. The Government was hoisted by its own petard in Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States (12-1173), a case that could significantly impede federal efforts to convert abandoned railway lines into bike trails. The Government argued in this case that rights of way given […]
Greetings, Court fans! This Update covers two of the Court’s three decisions from last week, a good week for toner and tax aficionados: Lexmark v. Static Control Components (12-873), on who can maintain an action for false advertising under the Lanham Act; and United States v. Quality Stores, Inc. (12-1408), on whether severance payments made […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court surprised us with an early decision last week in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (12-536), striking down aggregate limits on campaign contributions. Rather than waiting until the end of the Term, the Court handed down the weighty decision with two months to spare. This Update will cover McCutcheon as well […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court delivered another April blockbuster this week, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (12-682), concluding 6-2 (with Justice Kagan recused) that a Michigan ballot initiative prohibiting the state from granting preferential treatment on the basis of race in college admissions and other state decisions does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment. […]
Greetings, Court fans! We know you’ve barely finished digesting Schuette, but we’re back to catch you up on the Court’s remaining decisions from this week: Paroline v. United Sates (12-8561), addressing restitution for victims of child pornography; White v. Woodall (12-794), reversing a grant of habeas corpus for failure to adhere to AEDPA’s deferential standard […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court continued its steady flow of spring decisions today, handing down three more. Two have been making headlines for their potential (though unspoken) impact on “patent trolls” (a derogatory term used to refer to those that hold patents not to manufacture products, but to extract licensing fees or inhibit competition). Octane […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back to bring you the third case from Wednesday, as well as this week’s orders. In Environmental Protection Agency v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. (12-1182), together with American Lung Association v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P (12–1183), the Court addressed an EPA rule on air pollution emitted in one state […]
Greetings, Court fans! It’s catch-up week for the Updaters, as we prepare for the home stretch. Today, we bring you the Court’s decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway (12-696), its first entrée into pure Establishment Clause litigation since the Ten Commandments cases, Van Orden v. Perry and McCreary County v. ALCU, back in 2005. […]
Greetings, Court fans! As promised, we’re back today with Robers v. United States (12-9012), on what counts as a return of property under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996; Tolan v. Cotton (13-551), a summary opinion reiterating the summary-judgment standard – and perhaps sending a message to lower courts that cops aren’t always entitled […]
Greetings, Court fans! Our apologies for the delay in summarizing Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (12-1315) for you, but at least we didn’t wait eighteen years! That’s how long it took Paula Petrella, owner of the copyright for the screenplay behind the Martin Scorcese film, Raging Bull, to sue MGM Pictures for infringement after she became sole […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back, this time to bring you two decisions from last month, as well as the Court’s cert grants and other significant orders through last week. This Update covers Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center (11-338), which made more waves with Justice Scalia’s separate opinion criticizing the practice of giving deference to […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back to bring you Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk (11-1059), on whether a FLSA collective action can proceed after the named plaintiff’s claim is rendered moot, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (10-1491), in which the Court held that the Alien Tort Statute does not have extraterritorial reach, and Boyer v. […]
Greetings, Court fans! Today, we bring you a trio of recent decisions beginning with the letter “M”: Missouri v. McNeely (11-1425), finding that the natural metabolization of alcohol does not present a per se exigent circumstance permitting officers to obtain blood samples from suspected drunk drivers without a warrant; McBurney v. Young (12-17), holding that […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court issued three more decisions this week, marked by their unanimity of opinion: Bowman v. Monsanto (11–796), holding that the patent exhaustion doctrine does not permit a farmer to “copy” patented soybean seeds by planting and harvesting; Bullock v. BankChampaign, N.A. (11-1351), holding that bankruptcy courts may refuse to discharge a […]