Supreme Court Briefing: Recent Episodes
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Discussing and breaking down every decision of the United States Supreme Court, along with important historical decisions and occasionally some legal news.
Does the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibit viewpoint discrimination by the Patent and Trademark Office in accepting trademark registrations?
Can a state government exclude religious institutions from participating in programs for generally available benefits?
Consideration of the Ninth Circuit’s provocation rule in analyzing claims of excessive force.
Exhaustion of protection for patents for items sold in the United States and in foreign countries for purposes of establishing patent liability under the United States Patent Act.
Kindred Nursing Care, LLC v. ClarkApplication of the Federal Arbitration Act to a decision of the Kentucky Supreme court requiring a specific grant of authority in a power of attorney in order for an agent (i.e. the holder of the power of attorney) to bind the principal (i.e. person who signed the power of attorney) to an agreement that disputes will be settled by binding arbitration.
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Preemption of state law relating to division of marital assets involving a reduction of a military pension so that the former service member can receive disability pay.
Standard for consideration of a motion to dismiss under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
Limitations on the President’s authority to appoint acting officers during a vacancy of officers required to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate..
Standard for courts to assess whether an individual education plan for a disabled student provides a free appropriate public education.
Standard of review for appeals courts reviewing a District Court’s decision whether to enforce an EEOC administrative subpoena.
Does a commercial regulation prohibiting merchants from imposing a “surcharge” on credit card purchases, while allowing a discount for cash payments, implicate the First Amendment?
Standard for assessing copyright claims for artistic work when combined with a useful object.
Standard under the U.S. Constitution Due Process Clause for circumstances when a party requests that a judge be removed from a trial due to possible bias.
Challenge to electoral districts established by the Virginia legislature which created with the specific goal of having at least 55% African-American voters.
Application Section §271(f)(1) of the Patent Act, which creates liability for patent infringement when a “substantial portion” of the “components” of an invention protected by a US patent are made in the US and shipped overseas for assembly. Can one component be a “substantial portion” of the “components” of an invention.
The scope of the President’s executive privilege and how courts are to consider presidential claims of privilege.
Watershed case discussing the jurisdiction of state courts over out of state corporations.
Whether lawsuits involving the Federal National Mortgage Association, i.e. Fannie Mae, can be brought in federal court absent another basis of jurisdiction.
Whether a violation of the “in camera” or sealed case requirement for bringing a claim as a relator under the False Claims Act mandates dismissal.
Consideration of qualified immunity for a police officer being sued for a civil rights violation when the officer encounters an ongoing scene where other officers are already involved in a confrontation with an armed party.
Interpretation of the Securities Exchange Act criminal provisions relating to insider trading to a “tippee” who receives information from a “tipper” who does not receive pecuniary gain as a result of the tip.
Can a person commit bank fraud if they steal a customer’s account by giving the customer’s identification information to the bank and arranging a transfer of the customer’s funds to a financial account controlled by the defendant?
Constitutionality of a nativity scene and menorah in separate displays in Pittsburgh, PA.
Constitutionality of a government sponsored Christmas display featuring a nativity scene.
Use of convictions from tribal courts as predicate offenses for habitual domestic violence offender.
Consideration of a statute of limitations for federal civil service employees claiming to be victims of discrimination or retaliation for bringing a claim of discrimination.
Per Curiam opinion discussing limitations on admissibility of victim impact evidence in capital sentencing hearings.
Administrative law. Whether interpretative regulations issued by federal agencies are entitled to deference if the agency does not state sufficient grounds to justify the interpretation.
Standard for awarding attorneys fees to the prevailing party in copyright litigation in federal court.
Application of sentencing provision in the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) to defendant convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm with a prior conviction under Iowa’s burglary statute.
Constitutionality of the admissions process of the University of Texas, which considers the racial background of an applicant as a factor in admissions.
Meaning of the term “official act” for purposes of a Hobbs Act prosecution, and whether things such having meetings, setting up phone calls, and hosting events qualifies.
Applicability of the federal sex offender act (SORNA) to offenders who move from a U.S. jurisdiction
Application of federal firearms act to individuals convicted of state law misdemeanor domestic violence offenses that contain a culpable mental state of “recklessly.”
Application of the RICO law to activities occurring outside of the United States, and determining whether civil plaintiffs can sue for RICO injuries occurring outside the United States.
Application of the exclusionary rule for a violation of the 4th Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures when the police detain someone based on less than reasonable suspicion, and later find a valid arrest warrant.
Does the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico count as a “separate sovereign” for purposes of multiple prosecutions under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution?
Finality of a jurisdictional determination regarding whether property is a wetland under the Clean Water Act.
Kind of, sort of, about hovercraft regulations on a portion of the Nation River in Alaska.
Can a person who did not exercise a constitutionally protected right sue government officials who retaliate against the person when the government officials mistakenly think that the person actually did exercise a constitutionally protected right?
Deciding whether a person can commit the crime of conspiracy to violate the Hobbs Act for extortion when the co-conspirators are the persons illegally providing the bribes to the government official.
Application of the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution when one state considers whether the court of another state acted in accordance with the other state’s laws, and whether a jurisdictional question is really jurisdictional.
James v. Boise. Supremacy of standard for attorneys fees for defendants in civil rights litigation. Does the U.S. Supreme Court rule apply, or can states set their own rules for lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983? Answer: U.S. Supreme Court precedent applies. Amgen, Inc. v. Harris. Standards for suing fiduciaries employer stock purchase retirement plans.
The first decision examines the elements of equitable tolling for a federal statute of limitations. The second decision examines the authority of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to demand reduction schemes that impact interstate wholesale power rates.
Is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence in a criminal case assessed based on the elements of the charges in the indictment, or on additional elements added in an erroneous jury instruction that benefited the defendant? Can a statute of limitations defense in a federal criminal case be raised for the first time on appeal?
Does the language “involving a minor or ward” apply to all three possible predicate offenses, i.e. to “aggravated sexual abuse” and “sexual abuse” in addition to “abuse sexual conduct” or does it only apply to “abusive sexual conduct”?
Does the rule announced in Miller v. Alabama, holding that juvenile murderers prosecuted as adults cannot be automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, apply retroactively?
Decision announced January 20, 2016. 8-1 decision by justice Clarence Thomas. Held--the language of ERISA limits relief to the type of “equitable relief” that existed in 1938.
Florida’s death penalty procedure, where the jury makes a recommendation and the judge then determines whether the death penalty should be imposed, is unconstitutional.
Issue Presented: Whether an indigent prisoner litigant must pay multiple monthly payments, one per each lawsuit, for lawsuits filed in federal court.
White v. Wheeler: Standard of review regarding dismissal of a juror in a death penalty prosecution under the AEDPA. DirectTV, Inc. v. Imburgia: Does the Federal Arbitration Act require California to recognize a waiver of consolidated (or class) arbitration, when California law, since overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court would void such clauses, and when the contract said that the clause would be voided under the law of the customer’s state, if applicable.
Did Congress have constitutional authority to create a cause of action for gender-motivated violence?
The supreme court was confronted four times with this grave injustice. Episode seven addresses the Japanese Internment Cases.
Was trial counsel constitutionally ineffective for failing to review a 1991 scientific paper on comparative lead bullet analysis?
Can the people of a state, through amendment of the state constitution, give power to establish legislative districts to an independent commission and not the state legislature?
Historical decision establishing a constitutional right to privacy protection for abortions prior to viability of the fetus.
Does an an employer have to pay employees for time spent waiting to go through security screening after the work shift ended?
Does the judiciary of the United States have constitutional authority to find an act of Congress void for violation of the United States Constitution?
Discussing and breaking down every decision of the United States Supreme Court, along with important historical decisions and occasionally some legal news.