Publications
Greetings Court fans! Sorry for the delay in the update, but the computer ate my homework. Honest. (I’m told by reliable sources that my technological woes will be solved sometime in June. I can only hope.) Ok, enough complaining. The Court issued five opinions — four from argued cases, and one per curiam summary reversal. […]
Greetings Court fans! I write not with news on the Court, but rather to say farewell. In October, I will return to government service as an appellate lawyer for the US Attorney’s Office here in Connecticut, and so tomorrow is my last day at Wiggin and Dana. After my departure, these updates will continue under […]
Greetings Court fans! A lot of news today, as will probably be the case for the rest of the Term, so let’s get to it: First, from the order list: 1. The Court granted cert in 3 cases: a. Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. (02-1205): This is a case about the applicability of […]
Greetings, Court fans! The Court returned from recess with a flurry of activity, issuing three decisions Tuesday, an additional two decisions Wednesday, and an extensive order list. (If you watched the President’s address Tuesday, you know that Justice Ginsburg returned as well, looking amazingly well just weeks after surgery.) I’ll break things up, bringing you […]
Greetings Court fans! Two unanimous opinions today, both from the February sitting. In both cases, the Court rejected rules that would have required complicated balancing tests or detailed factual inquiries, opting instead for simple rules. In the first opinion, Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt (02-42), the Court (per O’Connor) held that the Full Faith and […]
Greetings Court fans! Three new opinions today, all relatively straightforward. After today, Scalia is in the lead with 6 published opinions for the Term. The Chief and Thomas are bringing up the rear with 3 published opinions each. In honor of Scalia, I’ll begin with his latest opinion. In Jinks v. Richland County (02-258), Scalia […]
Greetings, Court fans! We have lots of news to report, including five decisions released last week, more cert grants, and the details on Oregon v. Ice (07-901), and Herring v. United States (07-513), which were discussed briefly in our last Update. We’ll break things up to make it more manageable, so consider this Part I. […]
Greetings, Court Fans! We have only one decision to report this holiday week: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (05-1074). The case, which divided the Court 5-4, addresses when the clock starts running on a Title VII employment discrimination claim based on disparate pay. Title VII requires an employee to file a charge with […]
Greetings Court fans! No opinions today, but an unusually meaty order list. The Court granted cert in 5 cases and asked the Solicitor General to weigh in on 3 others. The Court granted cert in the following cases: 1. Arizona v. Gant (02-1019): This is a Fourth Amendment case about the scope of automobile searches […]
Greetings Court fans! Three new opinions today, and an order list. Since the opinions today were relatively big ones, I’ll start there. First, in State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell (01-1289), the Court (Kennedy for himself, Rehnquist, Stevens, O’Connor, Souter, and Breyer) held that a $145 million punitive damages award was grossly excessive […]
Greetings, Court Fans! You’re probably sick of us already, but we’ll be cluttering your inbox a lot this week as we near the end. We’ve seen seven opinions so far this week – three on Monday, and four more this morning (including Kennedy v. Louisiana, in which the Court held that states cannot impose the […]
Despite my earlier representation (“that’s all for today”), in fact, the Court issued two opinions today. Before I get to the opinions, please note that in the race to issue the first majority opinion (and there is a race), O’Connor won. (I’m not biased or anything.) The summary reversals from yesterday don’t count. And even […]
Greetings, Court Fans! The Court hit us with three opinions and a “decree” yesterday, just before leaving for a recess until late February. By then, there may be a new Associate Justice on the Court, so this batch of opinions might well be the last to involve Justice O’Connor. As you’ll see below, there was […]
Greetings, Court fans! The deluge has finally begun, with the Court issuing five decisions this week, including its decision in Gonzalez v. Carhart (05-380), which has been described as a “stunning victory” for pro life forces and an “astounding loss” for pro choice advocates. Since most of us prefer our information in bite-sized portions, we’ll […]
Greetings Court fans! Another installment summarizing the end of Term flurry of opinions. In Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain (03-339), the Court considered claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). To make a long story short, DEA agents hired Mexican nationals (including Sosa) to seize Alvarez in Mexico and bring […]