January 7 summaries
Horne v. Department of Agriculture
(1) Whether the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment applies only to real property and not personal property; (2) whether government may avoid paying just compensation for a physical taking of property by reserving a contingent interest in a portion of the value of the property to the property owner; and (3) whether the California raisin marketing order is a per se taking that requires just compensation.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Kingsley v. Hendrickson
Whether a pretrial detainee's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 excessive force claim requires a showing that the force used by the state actor was objectively unreasonable and that the use of force was deliberate.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Rights § 1983
Mata v. Holder
Whether the Fifth Circuit erred in determining that it had no jurisdiction to review a petitioner's request that the Board of Immigration Appeals equitably toll a deadline on his motion to reopen due to ineffective assistance of counsel under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2).
Area(s) of Law:- Immigration
McFadden v. United States
Whether the government must prove a defendant knew a substance was a controlled substance before convicting the defendant for distribution of a controlled substance.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Obgerfell, et al. v. Hodges, et al.
Whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex, and whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to recognize a same sex marriage when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Glossip v. Gross
Whether Oklahoma's prisoner execution protocols violate the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs
(1) Whether common law agency, the definitions in Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 USC 1602 (FSIA), or the factors set out in First National City Bank v. Banco Para el Comercio Exterior de Cuba should determine when an entity is an “agent” of a foreign state under the commercial-activity exception of FSIA; and (2) whether under the commercial-activity exception of the FSIA, a tort claim in connection with travel outside of the United States arises from allegedly tortuous conduct which occurred outside of the United States; or the from preceding sale of the ticket within the United States.
Area(s) of Law:- Sovereign Immunity
February 0 summaries
March 9 summaries
Hawkins v. Community Bank of Raymore
Whether spousal guarantors have standing to bring a claim under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), and whether the Federal Reserve Board can include spousal guarantors as “applicants” to avoid discrimination against married women.
Area(s) of Law:- Consumer Credit
Ocasio v. United States
Whether the federal statute forbidding extortion requires a conspiracy to commit extortion to target a victim outside the conspiracy.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Hurst v. Florida
Whether Florida's death sentencing scheme violates the Sixth Amendment or the Eighth Amendment in light of this Court's decision in Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002).
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia
Whether California state law forbids agreements that waive customer rights to bring a class action.
Area(s) of Law:- Arbitration
Montgomery v. Louisiana
Whether a ban on life sentences without possibility of parole to minors applies retroactively to sentences before the Supreme Court's 2012 landmark decision.
Area(s) of Law:- Juvenile Law
Kansas v. Carr, Jonathan
Does the Eighth Amendment require a jury engaged in capital sentencing to be “affirmatively instructed” that mitigating circumstances “need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, or whether jury instructions, in context, that are clear that each individual juror must analyze and give weight to a mitigating circumstance satisfies the Eighth Amendment? Also, whether a trial court’s decision to not sever a sibling co-defendant’s sentencing phase from respondent’s violated the right to “individualized sentencing” under the Eighth Amendment and if severed, was not harmless error?
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Kansas v. Gleason
Whether a capital-sentencing jury is required by the Eighth Amendment to be affirmatively instructed, as the Kansas Supreme Court held, that mitigating circumstances need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, or if the Eight Amendment is satisfied by merely providing instructions that make clear that every juror must weigh and assess mitigating circumstances.
Area(s) of Law:- Sentencing
Kansas v. Reginald Carr
Whether the Eight Amendment requires either severance of co-defendants' cases at sentencing or affirmative instructions to sentencing juries that mitigating circumstances need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
Area(s) of Law:- Sentencing
Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan
Whether in a lawsuit under the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act of 1974, a fiduciary can recover an overpayment if the fiduciary did not identify a particular fund for the payment.
Area(s) of Law:- Tort Law
April 3 summaries
Oneok, Inc. v. LearJet, Inc.
The Natural Gas Act does not pre-empt state antitrust laws regulating natural gas rates.
Area(s) of Law:- Preemption
Rodriguez v. United States
Once a traffic stop is completed, a dog sniff is unreasonable without additional reasonable suspicion.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
Green v. Donahoe
Whether, in an employment discrimination claim brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the filing period for a constructive discharge claim begins to run (1) when an employee resigns or (2) at the time of the employer’s act that gave rise to the employee’s resignation.
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
May 5 summaries
Commil USA, LLC v, Cisco Systems, Inc.
A good-faith belief as to the validity of a patent cannot be raised as a defense to an induced patent infringement claim.
Area(s) of Law:- Patents
Foster v. Humphrey
Whether the Georgia Supreme Court erred in not recognizing racial discrimination in a death penalty claim under the Batson test.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc., et al. v. United States ex rel. Carter
The wartime suspension of limitations act only applies in criminal offenses and not civil suits.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Lockhart v. United States
Whether the federal sentencing enhancement under 18 U.S.C. 2252(b)(2) requires that a prior conviction involve a minor or ward.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Wellness International Network, Limited v. Sharif
Bankruptcy courts have authority to issue final judgments on whether assets are included in a bankruptcy estate if all parties knowingly and voluntarily consent to the adjudication.
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
June 11 summaries
Luis v. United States
Whether it is unconstitutional under the 5th and 6th Amendments to restrain a criminal defendant from using assets unrelated to the criminal offense to hire an attorney.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Shapiro v. Mack
Whether a single district judge may decide not to convene a three-judge panel to dismiss a claim challenging the constitutionality of a congressional redistricting plan.
Area(s) of Law:- First Amendment
Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, Peg, Et Al.
Whether, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a class action containing non-identical members and non-injured members can be certified.
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
Dollar General Corp v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Whether tribal courts have jurisdiction to hear civil tort claims against non-Indian defendants?
Area(s) of Law:- Indian Law
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
Whether race can be used as a factor in a university admission process?
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance
Whether a state can require insurance companies to file informative data without violating ERISA.
Area(s) of Law:- Insurance Law
Michael Musacchio v. United States of America
Whether the law-of-the-case doctrine requires the government to provide more evidence than the statute requires.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure
California Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt
Whether states have immunity when being sued in another state’s court and whether Nevada v. Hall was wrongly decided by not extending sovereign immunity to sister states.
Area(s) of Law:- Sovereign Immunity
Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
Whether union agency shop fees are a violation of the First Amendment?
Area(s) of Law:- First Amendment
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin v. United States
Whether a claim under the Indian Self-Determination Act is entitled to equitable tolling.
Area(s) of Law:- Tribal Law
Merrill Lynch, Et Al. v. Manning, Greg, Et Al.
Whether Section 27 of the Securities Exchange Act provides federal jurisdiction over state law claims based on potential violations of the Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Procedure
July 0 summaries
August 0 summaries
September 0 summaries
October 1 summary
Voisine v. United States
Whether a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction, with the mens rea of recklessness, can satisfy the federal law prohibiting firearm possession by those convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic abuse”?
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
November 10 summaries
East Texas Baptist Univ. v. Burwell
Whether the process to receive an accommodation under the Affordable Care Act, which allows a non-profit religious organization to not pay for mandated coverage of contraception, relieves the substantial burden under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Geneva College v. Burwell, Zubik v. Burwell,
Whether the process to receive an accommodation under the Affordable Care Act, which allows a non-profit religious organization to not pay for mandated coverage of contraception, relieves the substantial burden under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Husky Int'l Elecs., Inc. v. Ritz
Whether "actual fraud" under the Bankruptcy Code includes instances when the debtor commits a fraudulent-transfer scheme intended to cheat a creditor.
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
Little Sisters v. Burwell, Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell
Whether the process to receive an accommodation under the Affordable Care Act, which allows a non-profit religious organization to not pay for mandated coverage of contraception, relieves the substantial burden under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Nichols v. United States
Whether under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act a sex offender who moves to foreign jurisdictions still has to register in the previous domestic jurisdiction.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
Priests for Life v. Dept. of Health and Human Servs, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington v. Burwell
Whether the process to receive an accommodation under the Affordable Care Act, which allows a non-profit religious organization to not pay for mandated coverage of contraception, relieves the substantial burden under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Roman Catholic Archbishop v. Burwell
Whether a religious non profit organization can be deemed exempt from the ACA regulatory requirement to provide contraceptives in their healthcare programs.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Simmons v. Himmelreich
Whether the court erred in ruling the Federal Torts Claims Act (FTCA) judgment bar under 28 U.S.C. 2676 prevents a lawsuit against federal officials because the very same issue was involved in an earlier lawsuit.
Area(s) of Law:- Tort Law
Geneva College v. Burwell
Whether the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate burdens religious exercise of nonprofit organizations.
Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole
Whether state laws with the purpose of promoting health, but with the effect of reducing the availability of abortion services, place an undue burden on women seeking an abortion and are therefore unconstitutional?
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
December 11 summaries
Acosta-Febo v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust
Whether the Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement Recovery Act is preempted by 11 U.S.C. §903(1)?
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
Betterman v. Montana
Whether sentencing is part of the trial for the purpose of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Whether the dismissal of a lawsuit, due to failure of the party to comply with pre-suit requirements, can form the basis of an award for attorney’s fees?
Area(s) of Law:- Attorney Fees
Universal Health Services v. U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Whether the “implied certification” theory is viable under the False Claims Act and, if viable, whether a government contractor’s reimbursement claim is “false” under this theory, and whether falsity requires express statements of payment?
Area(s) of Law:- Contract Law
Bernard v. Minnesota
Whether, without a warrant, a State can make an individual’s refusal to take a chemical test to check for intoxicants a criminal offense?
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Beylund v. Levi
Whether, without a warrant, a State can make an individual’s refusal to take a chemical test to check for intoxicants a criminal offense?
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Birchfield v. North Dakota
Whether, without a warrant, a State can make an individual’s refusal to take a chemical test to check for intoxicants a criminal offense?
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Ross v. Blake
Whether the Fourth Circuit properly used a common law “special circumstances” exception to the Prison Litigation Reform Act?
Area(s) of Law:- Civil Rights § 1983
Sheriff v. Gillie
Whether special counsel appointed by the attorney general to undertake their duty to collect debts owed to the State are state officials and whether it is materially misleading for the special counsel to use the attorney general’s letterhead to convey they are collecting debts owed to the State.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc.
Whether an approved jurisdictional determination issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers or Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act is considered a final agency action subject to immediate judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act § 704?
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
United States v. Bryant
Whether the domestic abuse recidivist statute should consider past convictions from tribal courts where the defendant did not have a right to counsel and the conviction resulted in imprisonment.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law