Publications
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back with the remainder of last week’s decisions: Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community (12-515), embracing a broad view of tribal sovereign immunity; Wood v. Moss (13-115), finding that secret service officers who moved protesters away from President Bush were entitled to qualified immunity; and Martinez v. Illinois (13-5967), underscoring the […]
Greetings, Court fans! It’s been a rough couple of days for the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. On Friday, its Chief Judge stepped down in the wake of a teapot-sized tempest over his sitting on an appeal after sending a laudatory email to one of the attorneys involved. On Monday, the Supreme Court handed down […]
Greetings, Court fans! We’re back to bring you last week’s decision in Bond v. United States (12-158), the case of the jilted wife-cum-accused chemical terrorist; and the news that the Court refused to issue a stay in National Organization for Marriage v. Geiger (13A1173), in which the district court struck down Oregon’s ban on same-sex […]
Greetings, Court fans! It is June and naturally, the clouds are not the only things raining down on us; the decisions are beginning to pour in as well. The Court handed down five this week. This Update will cover CTS Corp. v. Waldburger (13-339), on whether CERCLA preempts state statutes of repose as well as […]
Greetings, Court fans! Argentina is 1 and 0 at the World Cup thus far, but it’s now gone 0 for 2 at One First Street. Regular readers will recall that, in March, the Court affirmed a district court decision confirming a $187 million arbitration award against La Albiceleste in BG Group PLC v. Republic of […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court seems to be clearing out some of the “easy” opinions this week, in anticipation for the blockbusters to come. Today, we bring you summaries of two unanimous decisions, Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus (13-193), on standing in a case involving political speech, and Lane v. Franks (13-483), on whether […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court is starting to roll out the big decisions, including in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. (13-317) yesterday on the viability of the fraud-on-the market theory in securities class actions. We’ll bring you our take on Halliburton soon, but in the meantime, let’s clear out two more cases […]
Greetings, Court fans! For those of you not currently glued to your TV set or other screen watching US v. Germany in the World Cup, here’s a special treat: a deep dive into ABC v. Aereo (13-461) by a guest writer who worked on the case below. Of course, if you are watching the game, […]
Greetings, Court fans! This Update will bring you Pom Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co. (12-761), on whether a competitor may bring a Lanham Act claim based on misleading advertising where the product’s packaging complies with FDA guidelines; Loughrin v. United States (13-316), finding that specific intent to defraud a bank is not always required to […]
Greetings once again, Court fans! We’re back with three biggies: Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency (12-1146), where the Court grappled with the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions contributing to “global climate change”; Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. (13-317), upholding plaintiffs’ ability to invoke the “fraud on the […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court closed out the Term today with Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores (13-354), holding that closely-held corporations controlled by religious families cannot be required to provide contraception coverage for their employees, and Harris v. Quinn (11-681), holding that home-care aides paid with Medicaid funds are only partial public employees and cannot […]
Greetings, Court fans! You’ll forgive us for taking a few days to work through the last of the Court’s big end-of-Term decisions. This Update covers two of them: National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning (12-1281), limiting the President’s ability to make appointments during short recesses of the Senate; and Harris v. Quinn (11-681), exempting […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court ended its Term in familiar fashion, with a blockbuster Obamacare ruling. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (13-354) and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell (13-356), the Court considered whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) excuses for-profit corporations that object on religious grounds from having to […]
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 […]