United States Supreme Court (8 summaries)
Garza v. Idaho
When an attorney’s ineffective assistance costs a defendant an appeal that the defendant would have otherwise pursued, prejudice to the defendant is presumed – even when that defendant has signed an appeal waiver.
Area(s) of Law:- Appellate Procedure
Dawson v. Steager
West Virginia engaged in unlawful discrimination in violation of 4 U.S.C. § 111 when it taxed the federal pension benefits of U.S. Marshals Service retirees and exempted from taxation the pension benefits of certain state and local law enforcement officers.
Area(s) of Law:- Tax Law
Merit Management Group, LP v. FTI Consulting, Inc.
To determine whether an entity is included under the “safe harbor exception” in the bankruptcy code, 11 U.S.C. §546, the court must view financial transaction as a whole and not merely as “component parts.”
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
Patchak v. Zinke
Congress does not violate Article III when it enacts a new law directing the federal courts to dismiss certain suits, even when the law retroactively effects pending litigation.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Class v. United States
By pleading guilty, a federal criminal defendant does not waive the right to directly appeal the constitutionality of the statute under which they were convicted.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers
The Dodd-Frank Act’s anti-retaliation provision allowing an award to whistleblowers does not extend to those reporters who have not provided information directly to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
District Of Columbia v. Wesby
Officers had probable cause to arrest partygoers based on a reasonable belief of “substantial chance of criminal activity,” established by the totality of the circumstances, and the officers making an arrest pursuant to such probable cause were entitled to qualified immunity from a civil suit.
Area(s) of Law:- Constitutional Law
Texas v. New Mexico
Whether New Mexico is prohibited from recapturing water it has delivered to Elephant Butte Reservoir pursuant to the 1938 Rio Grande Compact, after that water is released from the Reservoir.
Area(s) of Law:- Water Rights
United States Supreme Court Certiorari Granted (7 summaries)
Kahler v. Kansas
Whether the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments permit a state to abolish the insanity defense
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Law
PDR Network, LLC,. v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, Inc.
Whether the Hobbs Act required the district court in this case to accept the FCC's legal interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Area(s) of Law:- Administrative Law
Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido
Whether, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the same “20-employee minimum” applicable to private companies also applies to “political subdivisions” of a state, regardless of size?
Area(s) of Law:- Employment Law
Animal Science Products, Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
Whether a court may exercise independent review of an appearing foreign sovereign’s interpretation of its domestic law, or whether a court is bound to defer to a foreign government’s legal statement, as a matter of international comity, whenever the foreign government appears before the court.
Area(s) of Law:- Corporations
Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP v. R. Scott Appling
Whether a statement concerning a specific asset constitutes a "statement respecting the debtor's financial condition” within 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(2)(A) of the Bankruptcy Code.
Area(s) of Law:- Bankruptcy Law
Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District v. SolarCity Corporation
Whether orders denying state-action immunity to public entities are immediately appealable under the "collateral-order" doctrine.
Area(s) of Law:- Sovereign Immunity
Collins v. Virginia
Whether the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement permits a police officer's warrantless entry onto private property to search a vehicle parked in close proximity to a dwelling.
Area(s) of Law:- Criminal Procedure