January 11 summaries
Bruce v. Samuels
Inmates must make monthly payments on lawsuit filing fees simultaneously with other previously unsatisfied filing fees, rather than making each filing fee payment sequentially.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Hurst v. Florida
A capital sentencing proceeding that allows a judge, and not the jury, to make the final determination in imposing the death penalty violates the Sixth Amendment.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez
Refusal of a settlement offer does not efface a claim.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Kansas v. Carr
The Eighth Amendment does not (1) require a court to instruct a jury engaged in capital sentencing that mitigating factors need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, or (2) require separate hearings for multiple defendants in a capital sentencing case.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan
ERISA employee benefit plans can only sue to recover equitable liens limited to the specifically identified settlement funds established in the subrogation provisions.
Area(s) of Law:- ERISA
Amgen Inc. v. Harris
For a claim of breach of a fiduciary's duty of prudence, claimant must allege an alternative action that the fiduciary could have taken that would have been consistent with securities laws and that a prudent fiduciary in the same circumstances would not have viewed as more harmful than helpful.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
FERC v. Electric Power Supply Assn.
The FERC has authority to regulate demand response bids regarding wholesale market operators' compensation, and the Rule is valid.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
James v. City of Boise, Idaho
State courts are bound to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of federal laws.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin v. United States
To establish equitable tolling of a statute of limitations, the litigant must show the delay was extraordinary and beyond the litigant's control.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Montgomery v. Louisiana
Juveniles who were sentenced to life without parole before the decision in Miller can petition for parole if they were not allowed to present mitigation evidence during sentencing.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Musacchio v. United States
A sufficiency challenge should be assessed by the elements of the alleged crime not by an erroneous jury instruction and a defendant cannot raise a §3282(a) statute of limitations bar for the first time on appeal.
Area(s) of Law:- Appellate Procedure
February 0 summaries
March 12 summaries
Gobielle v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
ERISA pre-empts state law that would otherwise require health insurance providers to report health care claims and other information to a state agency.
Area(s) of Law:- Insurance Law
Lockhart v. United States
When interpreting a statute, a court should interpret a limiting clause or phrase at the end of the sentence to only modify the noun or phrase immediately preceding it.
Area(s) of Law:- Sentencing
Americold Realty Trust v. ConAgra Foods, Inc.
For purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a real estate investment trust, an unincorporated entity, has the citizenship of its shareholders.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
V.L. v. E.L.
When a state court has jurisdiction over an adoption judgement, the Full Faith and Credit clause requires recognition of that adoption by another state.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Wearry v. Cain
The Louisiana Court failed to recognize and grant Appellant relief for a Brady v. Maryland violation committed by state prosecutors after they failed to turn over material evidence that prejudiced the appellant.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Caetano v. Massachusetts
Blanket prohibitions on the possession of stun guns and other arms not in existences at the time of the founding violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Hawkins v. Community Bank
Lenders can seek repayment from a spouse of the business owner who took the loan.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Law
Nebraska v. Parker
The 1882 Act between the United States and the Omaha Tribe did not diminish reservation land and tribal ordinances apply to the land referred to in the Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Indian Law
Sturgeon v. Frost
The National Park Service regulations regarding ‘non-public’ lands within Alaska are inconsistent with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).
Area(s) of Law:- Land Use
Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo
Employees seeking unpaid overtime for time donning and doffing protective clothing under Iowa state law and federal law can use representative evidence to establish a common injury.
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
Friedrichs v. California Teacher's Association
Union agency shop arrangements are constitutionally valid.
Area(s) of Law:- First Amendment
Luis v. United States
A pretrial injunction prohibiting a criminal defendant from using personal assets unrelated to the criminal offense to retain counsel is a violation of the Sixth Amendment.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
April 4 summaries
Evenwel v. Abbott
The equal protection principle of “one person, one vote” permits States to apportion legislative districts using total population, and does not mandate that districts be apportioned based upon registered or eligible voter population.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Nichols v. United States
The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) requires an offender to appear in a current jurisdiction to report updates of his or her information.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Woods v. Etherton
It is inappropriate to use the "fairminded jurist" standard when evaluating an appellant's claims for relief on appeal.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Welch v. United States
Collateral petitioners convicted under the Armed Career Criminal Act may seek retroactive relief consistent with the Court’s prior ruling that the residual clause of the Act is void for vagueness.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
May 21 summaries
Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt
The Constitution does not permit Nevada to award damages against California agencies under Nevada law that are greater than it could award against Nevada agencies in similar circumstances.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing
States may not implement programs which interfere with FERC's regulatory authority by adjusting wholesale electricity rates.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
BANK MARKAZI v. PETERSON
22 U.S.C. §8772, a provision of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, does not violate constraints placed on the Executive and Legislative Branches by the separation of powers principles in the Constitution.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm’n
The State of Arizona did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment when the redrawing of the State legislative districts resulted in a population deviation of 8.8%.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
United States v. Shaw
Whether “scheme to defraud a financial institution” in subsection (1) of the bank-fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. §1344, requires proof of a specific intent not only to deceive, but also to cheat a bank?
Area(s) of Law:- Corporations
Heffernan v. City of Paterson
Employers may be held liable under the First Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for demoting an employee in an attempt to prevent them from engaging in political activity protected by the First Amendment, even if the employer is factually mistaken about the nature of their employee’s activity.
Area(s) of Law:- First Amendment
Ocasio v. United States
Defendants may be criminally liable for conspiring to violate the Hobbs Act if the government can prove that the defendant agreed with the property owner to acquire that property under color of official right.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Husky Int’l Electronics, Inc. v. Ritz
"'Actual fraud' encompasses other traditional forms of fraud and can be accomplished without a false representation, such as a fraudulent conveyance of property made to evade payment to creditors."
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
Kernan v. Hinojosa
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act presumes that a state decision rejecting a claim is a ruling on the merits that can be rebutted by looking through summary denials by state appellate courts to an earlier state ruling.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Sheriff v. Gillie
Independent Counsels' use of the Ohio Attorney General's letterhead to collect debt was not a misleading or deceptive practice under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, when the attorneys were acting as special counsel on behalf of the Attorney General, for purposes of collecting debts for the state and its instrumentalities.
Area(s) of Law:- Consumer Credit
Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins
In a federal claim, an allegation of a mere procedural violation of law is not concrete enough to satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement of standing.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Zubik v. Burwell
It is feasible for employers to contract with insurers to provide health care to their employees, excluding some or all types of contraception, and for those insurers to cover contraception to said employees, which effectively eliminates the employer's obligation to give notice of their objections of contraception coverage.
Area(s) of Law:- Insurance Law
Betterman v. Montana
The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial does not apply once a defendant has been found guilty at trial or pleaded guilty, including the time between conviction and sentencing, although other Due Process challenges may still be raised.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. EEOC
A judgment on the merits is not necessary to find that a defendant has prevailed for the purposes of determining whether a defendant can recover attorney’s fees.
Area(s) of Law:- Attorney Fees
Luna Torres v. Lynch
State crimes constitute "aggravated felonies" for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act if the state crime has all of the elements of a corresponding federal statute except the federal jurisdictional element.
Area(s) of Law:- Immigration
Foster v. Chatman
The Constitution prohibits exercising preemptory strikes during voir dire used to remove potential jurors for discriminatory purposes and the three part Batson test is used to determine whether a strike was discriminatory.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Green v. Brennan
In a constructive discharge claim, the “matter alleged to be discriminatory” includes an employee’s resignation and therefore, the 45-day limitation period begins to run only after the employee resigns.
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
Wittman v. Personhuballah
To satisfy the Article III standing requirements, a party must raise more than a mere allegation of an injury, but must also present evidence that an injury resulted from the challenged conduct.
Area(s) of Law:- Standing
Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co.
"Approved jurisdictional determinations,” issued by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, are final agency actions that are judicially reviewable under the APA.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
Lynch v. Arizona
Simmons applies even in instances where there is a possibility that the defendant may be eligible for parole due to legislative action or clemency in the future.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby
What standard governs the decision of whether to dismiss a relator's seal requirement under the False Claims Act?
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
June 33 summaries
Buck v. Smith
Whether Petitioner's circumstances are extraordinary enough to warrant relief under Rule 60(b)(6), based on an ineffective assistance of counsel argument, from denial of his habeas claim when: his counsel called an expert witness to testify during sentencing and the expert stated that Petitioner's race made him more likely to be dangerous in the future, the prosecution alluded to Petitioner's race in closing as support for Petitioner's future dangerousness, and Petitioner was sentenced to death after it was determined that Petitioner had the potential to commit future violent acts.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Moore v. Texas
Whether it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment to use outdated State approved medical standards in determining whether a person is intellectually disabled for death penalty purposes, instead of using current medical standards.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Ross v. Blake
Under the Prison Litigation Reformation Act of 1995 (PRLA), there is no “special circumstances” exception that allows prisoners to bring a lawsuit without having first exhausted all administrative remedies available.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Simmons v. Himmelreich
There is no categorical exclusion of the exemptions under the FTCA.
Area(s) of Law:- Tort Law
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. Luis M. Sanchez Valle
Pursuant to the dual-sovereignty doctrine, the United States and Puerto Rico may not prosecute a single person for the same offense under analogous criminal laws.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Dietz v. Bouldin
Federal courts have an inherent limited power to call a jury back into the courtroom for continued deliberation after the jury has been dismissed but before the court has issued a final judgment in a civil case, however a district court should use discretion when exercising this power to ensure that the jury has not been prejudiced during the time they were dismissed.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Williams v. Pennsylvania
There is an impermissible risk of bias, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause, when a judge’s prior involvement in a case as the prosecutor is significant, personal, and related to a critical decision.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust
Puerto Rico is a “state” for purposes of Federal Bankruptcy Code preemption.
Area(s) of Law:- Preemption
Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc.
Enhanced damages under § 284 of the Patent Act are awarded on a discretionary basis against egregious and willful patent infringers, and non-discretionary frameworks or tests for enhanced patent infringement damages are not permissible when inconsistent with § 284.
Area(s) of Law:- Patents
United States v. Bryant
The Sixth Amendment does not preclude the use of uncounseled tribal court convictions as predicate offenses for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 117
Area(s) of Law:- Indian Law
Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States
Under 38 U.S.C. § 8127(d), the Department of Veteran Affairs is required to employ the Rule of Two in awarding contracts, even though the Department will otherwise meet its annual contracting objectives.
Area(s) of Law:- Contract Law
Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
When granting attorney fees in a copyright infringement case, a district court may examine the objective reasonableness of the losing party’s claim because doing so is in keeping with the legislative purpose of §505 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Copyright
Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar
The implied false certification theory of the False Claims Act can be a basis for liability when a defendant makes representations about the goods or services that it provides, but fails to disclose noncompliance with material legal requirements that make those representations misleading half-truths. Liability does not turn on whether the requirements are expressly designated as conditions of payment.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Law
Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee
Under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, 35 U.S.C. § 314(d) does bar judicial review and 35 U.S.C. § 316(a)(4) authorizes the Patent Office to regulate when it is reasonable and within their authority to do so.
Area(s) of Law:- Patents
Encino Motocars, LLC v. Navarro
Whether a government agency who has been given the authority to interpret and promulgate a regulation may be given deference in the absence of an explanation for a change that is inconsistent with the agency's longstanding earlier position.
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
National Labor Relations Board v. SW General, Inc.
Whether the precondition in Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 § b(1) on service in an acting capacity by a person nominated by the President to fill the office on a permanent basis applies only to first assistants who take office under Subsection (a)(1) of FVRA, or whether it also limits acting service by officials who assume acting responsibilities under Subsections (a)(2) and (a)(3)?
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
RJR Nabisco v. European Community
The Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) applies to certain international situations but does not permit recovery for civil damages in the U.S. for injuries that occurred outside of the U.S.
Area(s) of Law:- Corporations
Taylor v. United States
The prosecution in a Hobbs Act case satisfies the Act’s commerce element when it proves that the defendant robbed or attempted to rob a drug dealer of drugs or drug proceeds.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Utah v. Strieff
Evidence acquired in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule is admissible when an officer, conducting a good faith, bona fide investigation, discovers a valid warrant against the defendant, which qualifies as an intervening circumstance in application of the attenuation exception to the exclusionary rule.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Birchfield v. North Dakota
Under the Fourth Amendment, “implied consent laws” that require breath tests are constitutional because they are “reasonable searches” incident to arrest, which do not require a warrant.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Dollar General Corp. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Tribal Courts have jurisdiction over non-Indians who enter into a consensual relationship with the tribe through commercial dealing, contracts, leases or other arrangements.
Area(s) of Law:- Indian Law
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
Affirmative-action admission policies at public universities may be permissible under the Equal Protection Clause, because promoting racial diversity in student bodies and classrooms is a compelling state interest, but schools have an ongoing obligation to refine the management their admission policies to ensure that equal protection violations are not occurring as demographics change.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Richard Mathis v. United States
If, for purposes of determining penalty under the Armed Career Criminal Act, the court finds that a defendant was previously convicted under a statute with alternative means of satisfying one element of a crime, then the court shall determine whether the elements of the prior conviction, and not the facts of the records except for limited circumstances, sufficiently match the elements of the Act’s generic crimes
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
McDonnell v. United States
The government’s interpretation of the term “official act” in the federal bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. 201(a)(3), was overly broad and would lead to the criminalization of a variety of legitimate acts that public officials perform daily in their duty as representatives of the will of the voters.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Voisine v. United States
A person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of reckless domestic violence is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under 18 U. S. C. §922(g)(9).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Whole Women's Health v. Hersedt
Portions of a bill requiring doctors performing abortions to have privileges at a hospital not more than thirty (30) miles away and that the clinic performing the abortion meet the requirements of ambulatory surgical centers places a substantial burden on women seeking abortions.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Czyzewski v. Jevic Holding Corporation
Whether a bankruptcy court may authorize the distribution of settlement proceeds in a manner that violates the statutory priority scheme?
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
Donnika Ivy, et. al. v. Morath
Whether the relationship between a public entity and a private vendor can trigger obligations to accommodate persons with disabilities when no prior express contractual relationship exists between the public entity and private vendor?
Area(s) of Law:- Disability Law
Fry, Stacy, et vir v. Napoleon Community Sch., et al
Whether the HCPA commands exhaustion in a suit, when it is brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, that seeks damages if that remedy that is not available under the IDEA?
Area(s) of Law:- Disability Law
Lynch v. Morales-Santana
Whether it is a violation of the equal protection clause to impose different requirements on unwed mothers and fathers of foreign-born children for citizenship purposes, under U.S.C. 1401 and 1409?
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne International
Whether FSIA has an exception to the takings rules for foreign nations, in the event that the taking is not in violation of international law, and if an exception permits corporation shareholders to assert ownership rights to the property and question and whether “wholly insubstantial and frivolous” is the appropriate standard for dismissing a claim for jurisdictional issues?
Area(s) of Law:- Corporations
Visa Inc., Et Al. v. Osborn, Sam, Et Al And Visa Inc., Et Al. v. Stoumbos, Mary, Et Al.
Whether allegations that a member of a business association adhered to the association’s rules and possessed governance rights in the association are sufficient to plead the element of conspiracy under Section 1 of the Sherman Act?
Area(s) of Law:- Corporations
Wells Fargo & Co., et al., Petitioners v. City of Miami, Florida; Bank of America Corp., et al., Petitioners v. City of Miami, Florida
Whether: (1) the zone of interest requirement for "aggrieved person[s] under the FHA is as broad as the injury-in-fact requirement of Article III standing; 2) the FHA requires more than indirect harm to be pled to establish proximate cause.
Area(s) of Law:- Standing
July 0 summaries
August 0 summaries
September 0 summaries
October 1 summary
Bosse v. Oklahoma
Payne v. Tennessee did not implicitly overrule Booth v. Maryland's holding that the Eighth Amendment prohibits a capital sentencing jury from considering evidence of a victim’s family members’ opinions about the crime, the defendant, and the appropriate sentence.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
November 1 summary
Bravo-Fernandez v. United States
The Double Jeopardy Clause’s issue-preclusion component does not prevent the government from retrying a defendant following a jury’s return of irreconcilably inconsistent verdicts of conviction and acquittals where a legal error separate and apart from the inconsistencies led to the vacation of the convictions.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
December 4 summaries
Salman v. United States
A person who indirectly receives insider information and trades on that information fully knowing it was improperly disclosed violates Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and the Securities Exchange Commission’s Rule 10b-5.
Area(s) of Law:- Trade Secrets
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Et. Al. v. Apple Inc.
When determining a damages award for patent infringement under section 289 of the Patent Act, the relevant “article of manufacture” does not solely refer to the product sold to consumers but can also refer to components of the product.
Area(s) of Law:- Patents
State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby
Failure to abide by the seal requirement of the False Claims Act does not mandate the dismissal of a complaint filed under the False Claims Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Shaw v. U.S.
Convictions for “knowingly execut[ing] a scheme … to defraud a financial institution,” pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1344(1), are valid if the scheme defrauds bank customer accounts, because financial institutions have property rights in customer accounts.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law