U.S. Supreme Court 2013 Term Arguments: Recent Episodes

Oyez

View Details

A case which the Court dismissed regarding whether or not the three-year statute of limitations set forth in the Securities Act of 1933 is suspended when a class-action lawsuit is filed.

View Details

A case that was settled before trial regarding whether or not a New Jersey township's redevelopment plan of an historically poor area violated the Fair Housing Act.

View Details

A case which the Court dismissed concerning whether or not the Oklahoma legislature violated a woman's rights to an abortion by restricting the uses of abortion-inducing drugs to those listed on their FDA labels.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a party is not liable for patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) unless the party has also violated Section 217(a)o or any other statutory provision.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that the San Diego Police Department's search of an arrested gang member's cell phone pictures without a warrant violated the Fourth Amendment.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that the San Diego Police Department's search of an arrested gang member's cell phone pictures without a warrant violated the Fourth Amendment.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, although a U.S. patent may be vague in certain areas, it is still protected by patent law as long as the patent is definite enough for the general public to know what has or has not been patented already.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a public employee's truthful testimony under subpoena in a trial is citizen speech and thus cannot be used to terminate the employee.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that an allegation of improper purpose was not sufficient to entitle a taxpayer to examine IRS officials.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act pre-empts statutes of limitations, but cannot be used to pre-empt statutes of repose.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that pre-enforcement challenges are justiciable when evidence indicates that threatened enforcement of the law is sufficiently imminent.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that Aereo, Inc. violated federal copyright law by allowing users to stream content produced by major cable companies without a cable subscription.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that it is the duty of the court system to harmonize statutes, and that barring one applicable statute by use of another represents a disregard of the law's intent of having cooperative statutes.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, property held within the US by foreign nations cannot be attached to civil claims unless certain exceptions are met.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a trustee of an employee stock ownership plan is subject to the same duty of prudence as the trustee of a Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, to find someone guilty of bank fraud, only one of the two bank fraud statutes must be met, not both.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that patent laws should not place restraints on abstract ideas that form the "building blocks of human ingenuity."

View Details

A case in which the Court held that Secret Service agents did not break any "clearly established" laws in their efforts to protect the President, and were thus protected by qualified immunity.

View Details

A case in which the Court decided that the Affordable Care Act's requirement of for-profit corporations to supply its employees with contraceptives that go against the owners' beliefs is unconstitutional under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the U.S. Bankruptcy Code does not exempt inherited retirement accounts from a debtor's estate in bankruptcy proceedings.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that there is no undue burden in allowing defendants in securities fraud cases from presenting evidence regarding the alleged impact of the misinformation on stock prices.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that police using deadly force to prevent a crime endangering the general public are granted qualified immunity.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the execution of intellectually disabled individuals violated the protection against cruel and unusual punishment guaranteed in the Eighth Amendment.

View Details

A case in which the Court defined "exceptional" cases as ones that simply stand out from others due to a frivolous nature related to its legal claims.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a district court is the best place to determine whether or not a lawsuit is objectively baseless.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, individuals accused of property crime must pay “an amount equal to...the value of the property,” minus “the value...of any part of the property that is returned" in retribution.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is not required to include greenhouse gas emissions every time it mentions air pollution.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a firearm purchaser's intent to sell their gun to another buyer is necessary information for the seller's records.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that to recover restitution, either the government or the victim must establish a causal relationship between the defendant's conduct and the victim's harm or damages.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the the First Amendment prohibits the collection of union dues from home health care providers who do not wish to join a union.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment does not require an officer who received information regarding drunken or reckless driving to independently corroborate the behavior before stopping the vehicle.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the doctrine of laches could not be used to prevent a copyright suit that seeks relief for damages that occurred within the three-year window allowed by the Copyright Act.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a Tennessee man's conviction of domestic violence under state law also prevented him from legally possessing firearms under federal law.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that the Massachusetts legislature violated the freedom of speech protections of the First Amendment when it created a 35-foot buffer around the entrances, exits and driveways of abortion clinics where political activity was prohibited.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that severance payments made to employees who were unwillingly laid off are taxable under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that a bankruptcy judge may hear arguments and file a report with a district court for "non-core" bankruptcy issues.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875 guaranteed the federal government easements for federally-granted railroad land, but not an enduring property interest.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that a bankruptcy court may not enforce specific statutory exceptions.

View Details

A case in which the Court further defined the limitations on the presidential powers granted by the Recess Appointments Clause.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the policy of equitable tolling does not apply to the statute of limitations outlined in the Hauge Convention's provision on international child abduction.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a guilty plea negates a person's rights against self-incrimination in court.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the EPA has an absolute mandate to require states to meet federal standards set forth in the Clean Air Act.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not allow children who have submitted an application for a visa to keep their original application date if they "aged out" before it was processed.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that the Aviation and Transportation Security Act protects transportation officials from false statements, as long as the statements are not materially false within the ATSA context.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a district court's decision on a case based on merit is a "final answer" in terms of an eventual appeal.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that a federal statute can be enforced on a portion of military land that is subject to a public roadway easement.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Airline Deregulation Act preempts claims arising from a frequent flier complaint based on price, route, or air carrier service.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Lanham Act allowed any party to sue for injuries relating to false advertising, as long as the party bringing suit has an interest that falls in the zone of interest that is protected by law.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that Indian tribes have sovereign immunity that can only be revoked by Congress, and that the immunity extends to their commercial activities, even if they are not on their protected land.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that it is the duty of the arbitrating party in a contract lawsuit to interpret provisions outlined in the contract.

View Details

A case in which the Court decided a warrantless search is lawful if one of two co-tenants consents to the search and the other tenant is not present.

View Details

A case which the Court dismissed regarding the Labor Management Relations Act and a company's deals with union members.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the whistleblower-protection section of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act applies to privately-employed individuals.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b) of the statute regarding drug-related deaths, an individual convicted of the death of another through the sale of drugs cannot be convicted of drug-induced homicide if multiple drugs are present in the deceased's system.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the state must prove that an individual intended to commit or assist in committing a firearm-related offense in a drug trafficking case to be charged with offenses related to the firearm.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that, in order for a case to be removed to a federal district court instead of a state court under the Class Action Fairness Act, at least 100 people must be represented by the lawsuit.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that the invocation of prayer at a legislative session does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that a federal court does not need to abstain from deciding a case only because there is a case in state court that deals with the same subject matter.

View Details

A case in which the Court found that international treaties cannot overstep state sovereignty, and enforcement should be limited to international affairs.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, in a patent infringement case, the burden of proof of infringement is on the patent holder.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that putting on safety garments constitutes "changing clothes" under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that an FDA officer could not be sued in Nevada under the Fourteenth Amendment, due to his lack of connection with that state.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Fifth and Sixth Amendments do not allow an individual to use funds obtained illegally to pay for an attorney.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, in a criminal trial, the Fifth Amendment allows a prosecutor to use psychiatric evidence to counter-argue psychiatric evidence given by the defense.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Employment Retirement Income Security Act does not mandate a statute of limitations, allowing both parties in an insurance suit to mutually agree on a timeframe in which civil suits may be brought to court.

View Details

A case in which the Court held the judiciary did not have jurisdiction over DaimlerChrysler AG in California because the conduct in question was not in the state.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the judiciary did not have standing to overturn the state constitutional amendment regarding affirmative action in school admissions.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Federal Rules of Procedure allow two opposing parties in a lawsuit to transfer the litigation to a more convenient forum rather than being dismissed entirely.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that, under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, a court in partnership-level proceedings has the right to consider the applicability of any penalty that relates to the partnership.

View Details

A case in which the Court ruled that the two-year aggregate campaign contribution limit of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was unconstitutional.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act requires the Court of Appeals to apply a “doubly-deferential” standard in which both the state court and the defense attorney are given the benefit of the doubt in murder cases.

View Details

A case in which the Court held that the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act does not extend its scope beyond misrepresentations that are material to the sale of a closed financial security.

View Details

A case which the Court dismissed concerning whether the Age Discrimination Employment Act prevents state employees from seeking redress under the Equal Protection Clause and the Civil Rights Act.