January 2 summaries
Retirement Plans Comm. of IBM v. Jander
In Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, 573 U.S. 409 (2014), the United States Supreme Court held that claims for breach of the duty of prudence by fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 must be supported by a plausible allegation from the plaintiff that a prudent fiduciary in the same circumstances could have taken an alternative action that would not have done the fund more harm than good.
Area(s) of Law:- ERISA
Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC
A creditor’s motion for relief from the automatic stay initiates a distinct proceeding terminating in a final, appealable order when the bankruptcy court rules dispositively on the motion.
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
February 8 summaries
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Feliciano
The Puerto Rican courts lacked jurisdiction to issue payment and seizure orders after the case was removed to federal district court for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
Hernandez v. Mesa
A Bivens remedy does not exist for Fourth or Fifth Amendment claims in a cross-border shooting context.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
McKinney v. Arizona
A Clemons reweighing is a permissible remedy for an Eddings error, and when an Eddings error is found on collateral review, a state appellate court may conduct a Clemons reweighing on collateral review.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Monasky v. Tagliere
A child's habitual residence under 22 U.S.C. §9003(b) depends on the totality of the circumstances and it is not necessary for there to be an actual agreement between the parents. Further, a first-impression determination of habitual residence is subject to review for clear error.
Area(s) of Law:- Family Law
Rodriguez v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
The Bob Richards rule, which provides that in the absence of an agreement, a refund belongs to the group member responsible for the losses that led to it, promulgated in response to issues stemming from the IRS’s allowing affiliated groups of corporations to file consolidated federal tax returns, is not a legitimate exercise of federal common lawmaking.
Area(s) of Law:- Tax Law
Holguin-Hernandez v. U.S.
A defendant advocating for a particular sentence communicates that a longer sentence is “greater than necessary” and has thereby informed the court of the legal error for an appellate challenge to the substantive reasonableness of the sentence.
Area(s) of Law:- Appellate Procedure
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma
ERISA §1113's three-year statute of limitations for breaches in which a plaintiff has "actual knowledge" requires a factual showing that the plaintiff was actually aware of the information that constitutes the alleged breach. A showing of constructive knowledge is insufficient.
Area(s) of Law:- ERISA
Shular v. United States
Section 924(e)(2)(A)(ii) of the Armed Career Criminal Act’s definition of “serious drug offense,” requires that the state offense involve the conduct specified in the statute; the state offense need not match certain generic offenses.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
March 7 summaries
Kansas v. Garcia
IRCA does not expressly or impliedly preempt state prosecution for fraudulently using another person’s information on state and federal tax-withholding forms even when that same information is found on an I-9 form.
Area(s) of Law:- Preemption
Allen v. Cooper Gov. of North Carolina
Congress lacks the authority to abrogate the government’ sovereign immunity from copyright infringement suits under the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act of 1990.
Area(s) of Law:- Copyright
Comcast Corp. v. Nat’l Ass’n of African American-Owned Media
Under the text and history of 42 U.S.C. §1981, there is no exception to depart from the common law principle requiring a plaintiff to first plead and then prove that its injury would not have occurred “but for” the defendant’s unlawful conduct.
Area(s) of Law:- Tort Law
Davis v. United States
When a plain error affects substantial rights, neither Rule 52(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure nor federal precedent shields any category of errors from plain-error review.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr
An appellate court may review a question of equitable tolling under the Limited Review Provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act as undisputed or established facts present a question of law.
Area(s) of Law:- Immigration
Kahler v. Kansas
Due process does not require that a test of insanity as a defense to a crime turn on a defendant’s ability to recognize the moral turpitude of his crime.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
CITGO Asphalt Ref. Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co.
"Safe-berth" clauses in maritime contracts, depending on the language, embody a warranty of safety, imposing liability for unsafe berth regardless of the care taken by the charterer in choosing a berth.
Area(s) of Law:- Contract Law
April 12 summaries
Babb v. Wilkie
The plain language of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 shows that age need not be the but-for cause of a personnel action for there to be a violation of 29 U.S.C. § 633a(a).
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
Kansas v. Glover
When an officer runs a license plate and learns that the owner has a revoked license—absent knowledge of any contradictory facts—it is reasonable for the officer to infer that the driver is also the owner of the vehicle, and the traffic stop is justified.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee
The application for stay presented to Justice Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is granted. The District Court’s order granting a preliminary injunction is stayed to the extent it requires the State to count absentee ballots postmarked after April 7, 2020.
Area(s) of Law:- Election Law
Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian
A state court retains jurisdiction to hear claims arising under state common law despite Congress’ grant of exclusive original jurisdiction to the district courts to hear controversies arising under 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq. Landowners within a Superfund site may be considered potentially responsible parties for purposes of needing EPA approval to take remedial action under 42 U.S.C. § 9622(e)(6).
Area(s) of Law:- Environmental Law
Ramos v. Louisiana
The Sixth Amendment’s protection against nonunanimous felony guilty verdicts applies to States through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U. S. 145 (1968)
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP
35 U.S.C. § 314(d) precludes judicial review of the Patent Trial and Appeals Board's decisions regarding the application of §315(b)'s time limitation.
Area(s) of Law:- Patents
Barton v. Barr
The offense which disqualifies a permanent legal resident from eligibility for cancellation of removal does not have to be one of the offenses which triggered the removal action.
Area(s) of Law:- Immigration
County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund
Environmental Protection Agency permits are required only for pollutants directly discharged into navigable waters or when the functional equivalent of a direct discharge has occurred.
Area(s) of Law:- Environmental Law
Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc.
The Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1117(a), does not require findings of willful conduct to order an award of profits for trademark infringement.
Area(s) of Law:- Trademarks
Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org., Inc.
The Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 102(a), does not provide protection to the annotations contained in Georgia’s official annotated code.
Area(s) of Law:- Copyright
Maine Community Health Options v. United States
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s expired “Risk Corridors” program established a money-mandating obligation and Petitioners properly relied on the Tucker Act to recover from the United States for its failure to reimburse them.
Area(s) of Law:- Insurance Law
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York, New York
Petitioners' claim for declaratory and injunctive relief sought against New York City is moot and any new claim for damages may be decided by the lower courts.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
May 4 summaries
Kelly v. United States
A person commits wire fraud or fraud on a government entity only when they commit actual fraud and the fraud “obtain[s] property or money." 18 U.S.C. §§ 343, 666(a)(1)(A). Even if a scheme of fraud "obtains property," the second element requires that the "obtaining property or money" be the principal object of the fraud; this means that the scheme does not "obtain[] property or money" inadvertently. See Pasquantino v. United States, 544 U.S. 349, 364 (2005).
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
U.S. v. Sineneng-Smith
Under the party presentation principle, a court’s role is to neutrally adjudicate cases as presented by the parties, not to reframe the controversy.
Area(s) of Law:- Appellate Procedure
Lucky Brand Dungarees v. Marcel
Defense preclusion is not applicable in a second action when the same defenses from the first action are asserted but applied to different conduct, legal theories, and occurred at different times than those asserted in the first action and did not pose a risk of negatively affecting the first judgment.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Opati v. Republic of Sudan
Federal causes of action under section 1605A(c) can seek punitive damages because Congress expressly authorized them when it amended the statute.
Area(s) of Law:- Tort Law
June 17 summaries
Banister v. Davis
Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b), Rule 59(e) motions to change or amend a judgment of the habeas court is not a “second or successive habeas application."
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Fin. Oversight & Mgmt. Bd. for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Inv., LLC.
The Appointments Clause of the Constitution, Art. II, §2, cl. 2, applies to the appointments of some territorial officials, but not to officials whose powers and duties are primarily local.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS Corp. v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC.
"A written provision in any maritime transaction or a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce to settle by arbitration a controversy thereafter arising out of such contract or transaction*** shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract." 9 USC §2.
Area(s) of Law:- Contract Law
Nasrallah v. Barr
In the context of federal immigration law, Convention Against Torture (CAT) orders may be reviewed alongside final orders of removal.
Area(s) of Law:- Immigration
Thole v. U. S. Bank N. A.
Plaintiffs lack standing under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) if they would receive the benefit of fixed payments regardless of the outcome on their claims.
Area(s) of Law:- Standing
Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez
The three-strikes provision under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, denying prisoners the ability to bring suit without paying a filing fee if three or more prior suits were dismissed, includes all dismissals for failure to state a claim—with or without prejudice.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
Andrus v. Texas
In assessing whether a defendant has made a showing of prejudice, a reviewing court must consider “the totality of the available mitigation evidence - both that adduced at trial, and the evidence adduced in the habeas proceeding' - and 'reweig[h] it against the evidence in aggravation." Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 397-98 (2000).
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Bostock v. Clayton County
Title VII is violated when an employee is fired on the basis of being gay, lesbian, or transgender.
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
U.S. Forest Serv. v. Cowpasture River Pres. Ass’n
"Rights-of-way through any Federal lands may be granted by the Secretary of the Interior or appropriate agency head for pipeline purposes for the transportation of oil, natural gas, synthetic liquid or gaseous fuels, or any refined product produced therefrom to any applicant possessing the qualifications provided in section 181 of this title in accordance with the provisions of this section." 30 U.S.C. § 185(a).
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
Dep't of Homeland Sec. v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal.
Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was arbitrary and capricious because there were no reasons offered for terminating the forbearance policy, DHS did not consider alternatives within the ambit of the existing forbearance policy, and it did not address whether there was legitimate reliance on the prior DACA memorandum.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
Dep't of Homeland Sec. v. Thuraissigiam
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act’s (IIRIRA) limitations on asylum seekers seeking habeas review is constitutional and does not violate due process.
Area(s) of Law:- Habeas Corpus
Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc.
The Policy Requirement in the Leadership Act does not violate the First Amendment as applied to United States corporation's foreign affiliates because the U.S. Constitution does not apply to non-U.S. citizens outside of U.S. soil.
Area(s) of Law:- First Amendment
June Med. Servs. L. L. C. v. Russo
Louisiana’s admitting-privileges law for abortion doctors represents a substantial obstacle to a woman pursuing an abortion and is therefore unconstitutional.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau renders it unconstitutional because it is dominated by a single director and isolated from removal by the president, however, the provisions are severable.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue
Denying a benefit, generally available, based only on religious identity imposes on the free exercise clause and can only be justified by the highest order of state interest.
Area(s) of Law:- First Amendment
United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V.
Whether a term is generic for the purposes of federal trademark registration depends on its meaning to consumers and this distinctiveness inquiry focuses on the term’s whole meaning and not its isolated parts.
Area(s) of Law:- Trademarks
Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe
Operational decisions, common to most corporate business, is not a sufficient connection between domestic conduct and an Alien Tort Statute claim in order to give federal courts jurisdiction to hear a claim.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
July 7 summaries
Barr v. Am. Ass'n of Political Consultants, Inc.
The 2015 amendment to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 excluding robocalls made to collect government debts from the general prohibition against robocalls to cellular phones is unconstitutional and therefore severed.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Chiafalo v. Washington
Article II does not “expressly prohibit[] States from taking away presidential electors’ voting discretion as Washington does.” And that “’[l]ong settled and established practice’ may have ‘great weight in a proper interpretation of constitutional provisions.’” quoting The Pocket Veto Case, 279 U. S. 655, 689 (1929).
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision granted the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) virtually unbridled discretion to recognize and craft exemptions from its Guidelines and Congress “declined to expressly require contraceptive coverage in the ACA itself.”
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
McGirt v. Oklahoma
Congress has the sole power to disestablish a Native American reservation; the Major Crimes Act requires federal prosecution of certain crimes within “Indian country,” including the Creek Reservation in Oklahoma.
Area(s) of Law:- Indian Law
Trump v. Mazars, USA, LLP
Interbranch conflicts between the President and Congress calls for a level of scrutiny higher than what is required for an ordinary subpoena, but lower than what is required to overcome executive privilege.
Area(s) of Law:- Sovereign Immunity
Trump v. Vance
Neither the Supremacy Clause, nor Article II categorically preclude, or necessitate a heightened standard for, state criminal subpoenas issued to a sitting President.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Barr v. Lee
Unless and until the Supreme Court decides that the use of single-dose Pentobarbital as the Federal Government’s lethal injection protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, that proposition will not support a preliminary injunction of scheduled executions.
Area(s) of Law:- Sentencing
August 0 summaries
September 0 summaries
October 0 summaries
November 0 summaries
December 5 summaries
Carney, Governor of DE v. Adams
For a judicial candidate to have standing to bring a claim regarding eligibility for the position, it must be shown that the candidate is “able and ready” to apply for a judicial vacancy in the immediate future and thus would suffer a concrete injury.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Rutledge, Att'y Gen. of AK v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Ass'n
The purpose of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 “to make the benefits promised by an employer more secure by mandating certain oversight systems and other standard procedures.” Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 577 U. S. 312, 320-321 (2016).
Area(s) of Law:- Preemption
Tanzin v. Tanvir
In suits against government officials, damages are an appropriate form of relief.
Area(s) of Law:- Remedies
United States v. Briggs
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), no time limitation exists for bringing charges on crimes which are “punishable by death” under the USMJ.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Texas v. New Mexico
Under the Pecos River Compact, New Mexico is entitled to receive delivery credit for the water that evaporated during temporary storage of water at Texas’s request even though some of that water was not delivered to Texas.
Area(s) of Law:- Water Rights