Publications
Greetings, Court Fans! The Court kicked off the week with a flurry of activity in criminal cases, issuing a landmark Sixth Amendment ruling, another decision closing the door on vagueness challenges to the Sentencing Guidelines, a per curiam decision on the standard for disqualification of judges in criminal trials, and several statements regarding cert denials […]
Greetings, Court Fans! This week, while a potential ninth justice lectured the Senate Judiciary Committee on everything from fly fishing to “mutton busting” (but not on the age-old question of whether one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses would win in a fight), The Eight churned out six opinions lecturing readers on everything from adult […]
Greetings, Court Fans! This morning, the Court issued its decision in Moore v. Texas (15-797), an important death-penalty case holding that Texas’s outdated standard for determining whether a death-row inmate is intellectually disabled violates the Eighth Amendment. We’ll provide a more in-depth summary in our next Update, but first we bring you the remaining opinions […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Eight are Nine again. After over a year of operating short-handed, the Court is finally at full strength, as Justice Neil Gorsuch joined his colleagues on the bench this week to hear arguments for the first time. Meanwhile, we at the Update have felt a bit short-handed ourselves, but we’re back […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine wrapped up arguments for OT16 last week, so it’s time to start playing catch-up. This Update will get us most of the way there, with summaries of: Lewis v. Clarke (No. 15-1500), a rare case from the Connecticut Supreme Court regarding whether lawsuits brought against tribal employees in their individual […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine (well, eight of them, with Gorsuch still taking no part in decisions argued before his appointment) were back in action yesterday, issuing three new opinions touching on the Federal Arbitration Act (Kindred Nursing Centers v. Clark (No. 16-32)), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Midland Funding v. Johnson (No. 16-348)), […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Court rang in the week with three more decisions—Cooper v. Harris (No. 15-1262), an important ruling clarifying the test for racial gerrymandering claims; TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (No. 16-1341), an important ruling clarifying the scope of the patent venue statue; and Water Splash, Inc. v. Menon (No. […]
Greetings, Court Fans! We’re back with summaries of the three decisions handed down this past week, beginning with a major ruling on racial gerrymandering. Cooper v. Harris (15-1262) is one of two significant redistricting cases that were argued on the same day in December, which together make it much easier for plaintiffs to make out […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Court packed four new opinions into this holiday-shortened week, including the first case to be decided by nine justices in sixteen months. In that case, BNSF Railway Co. v. Tyrrell (No. 16-405), The Nine held that the Federal Employers’ Liability Act does not create a special rule authorizing jurisdiction over railroads […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Court took care of some deck clearing this week, handing down five unanimous decisions in relatively uncontroversial cases, including Honeycutt v. United States (No. 16-142), on the applicability of federal forfeiture statutes to members of a conspiracy who did not personally acquire forfeitable property, and Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Four new decisions to start the week, including the first ever authored by Justice Gorsuch: Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc. (No. 16-349), holding that a company seeking to collect its own debt is not a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. We’ll have a summary of that decision […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The end-of-term rush is officially on. On Monday, the Court handed down six new decisions (including a per curiam summary reversal) and accepted a potential OT17 blockbuster for review. To summarize briefly: In Matal v. Tam (No. 15-1293), the Court unanimously (but with some disagreement on rationale) struck down the disparagement clause […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Three more decisions this morning, leaving us with six to go (and a hint that perhaps a couple of these may be left undecided, fizzling out as 4-4 affirmances or being set for reargument next term). We’ll be back later with summaries of today’s cases, but here’s the blackletter: In Lee v. […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Nine were back in action this morning, handing down three decisions in cases raising important issues of criminal law and procedure. Briefly: In Maslenjak v. United States (No. 16-309) (one of several “crimmigration” cases this term) the Court held that, where a naturalized citizen is alleged to have procured citizenship illegally, […]
Greetings, Court Fans! It is finished. October Term 2016, that is. This morning, the Court handed down decisions in four of its six remaining cases for OT16 (with two cases that were argued before Gorsuch joined the Court being scheduled for reargument in the Fall, meaning it will be up to him to break an […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Though OT16 was gaveled to a close yesterday, the work of the clerk’s office continued this morning with the issuance of additional orders from yesterday’s “clean up conference,” including five new cases accepted for argument next Term. Our work continues, too, as we make our way through the long list of decisions […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Told you we’d back soon. This time, we’ve got summaries of two decisions relating to the availability of the implied damages remedy for constitutional violations by federal officials announced in the Court’s 1971 decision, Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents. Ziglar v. Abassi (15-1359) and its two companion cases arose in […]
Greetings, Court Fans! This is the way October Term 2016 ends—not with a whimper, but a bang. After eight relatively sleepy months, the last day of the term brought enough excitement to warrant a T.S. Elliot misquote. To be sure, much of the bang came through end-of-term orders and cert grants for OT17, but the […]
Greetings, Court Fans! While a potential ninth justice made plans to give a high school commencement address, The Eight continued to demonstrate that, without a full complement of justices, this may be the Term Without Blockbusters. (Although, with abortion and affirmative action still on the docket, that remains unlikely.) Two more high-profile cases were disposed […]
Greetings, Court Fans! It’s that time of year! Fresh on the heels of the six decisions handed down Monday, the Court issued another three yesterday, with more to come on the other side of the weekend. This Update will cover the remaining three cases from earlier in the week, as well as one that fell […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Three more decisions this morning—Green v. Brennan (14-613), holding that the 45-day limitations period for a constructive-discharge action under Title VII begins to run after the employee gives notice of his resignation; Wittman v. Personhuballah (14-1504), holding that a number of congressmen from Virginia lacked standing to defend the State’s congressional redistricting […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Just one new decision today (along with the first cert grant in ages). In United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. (No. 15-290), the Court held that a jurisdictional determination by the Army Corps of Engineers that a body of water consists of “waters of the United States” (such that […]
Greetings, Court Fans! As we settle into June, the Eight seem to be clearing out the less difficult decisions in preparation for what could be a messy end to the term, given some controversial issues (abortion, affirmative action, immigration) and the lack of a tie-breaking vote to decide them. This morning, the Court issued two […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Though the Puerto Rican Day Parade marched down Fifth Avenue Sunday, the Commonwealth was getting much less love on One First Street. Yesterday morning, in Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust (15-233), the Court held that Puerto Rico is a “State” under the Bankruptcy Code, with the result that a statute […]
Greetings, Court Fans! With just two weeks to go before the end of June, the pace of decisions is increasing, and keeping us increasingly busy. We’re going to get you almost caught up to speed tonight, with summaries of five of the six decisions handed down last week: Halo Electronics v. Pulse Electronics (14-1513), holding […]
Greetings, Court Fans! While “Brexit” is dominating the international headlines, it was a Texas twin bill yesterday on First Street, as The Eight handed down a 4-4 affirmance in United States v. Texas (15-674), upholding a nationwide injunction against implementation of the Obama Administration’s deferred-action immigration policy, while The Seven (with Justice Kagan recused) issued […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Having cleared some near-blockbusters off the table on Friday (everything’s relative this term), we’ve still got an eight-case backlog to get through before the final decision day of OT15 on Monday. Since we’ve got an even split of civil and criminal cases in the queue, we’re going to break them up accordingly. […]
The Court finished up OT15 this morning with decisions in Voisine v. United States (14-10154), holding that a reckless domestic assault qualifies as a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” under the federal felon-in-possession statute; McDonnell v. United States (15-574), holding that an “official act” for purposes of federal corruption statutes requires more than the kind […]
Greetings, Court Fans! Though most of the attention coming out of the final decision day of OT15 has focused on Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (15-274), where a 5-3 majority held that a Texas law regulating abortion providers imposed an undue burden on a woman’s right to choose, the Court also announced two important criminal-law […]
Greetings, Court Fans! We’re back with our penultimate Update of OT15, covering one of the biggest decisions (and certainly the longest) of the term, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (15-274). Hellerstedt, the first significant abortion case to reach the Court in nearly a decade, posed a test to the enduring vitality of the “undue burden” […]