The Court finished up OT15 this morning with decisions in Voisine v. United States (14-10154), holding that a reckless domestic assault qualifies as a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” under the federal felon-in-possession statute; McDonnell v. United States (15-574), holding that an “official act” for purposes of federal corruption statutes requires more than the kind of small favors that former Virginia governor Bob
Read More Mathis v. United States (15-6092), Utah v. Strieff (14-1373), Birchfield v. North Dakota (14-1468) and Taylor v. United States (14-6166)
Fisher v. University of Texas (14-981) and United States v. Texas (15-674)
While “Brexit” is dominating the international headlines, it was a Texas twin bill yesterday on First Street, as The Eight handed down a 4-4 affirmance in United States v. Texas (15-674), upholding a nationwide injunction against implementation of the Obama Administration’s deferred-action immigration policy, while The Seven (with Justice Kagan recused) issued a narrow ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (14-981)
Read More Fisher v. University of Texas (14-981) and United States v. Texas (15-674)Halo Electronics v. Pulse Electronics (14-1513), Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (15-375), United Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar (15-7), Puerto Rico v. Franklin Calif. Tax-Free Trust (15-233) and United States v. Bryant (15-240)
With just two weeks to go before the end of June, the pace of decisions is increasing, and keeping us increasingly busy. We’re going to get you almost caught up to speed tonight, with summaries of five of the six decisions handed down last week: Halo Electronics v. Pulse Electronics (14-1513), holding that judges have broad discretion to award enhanced damages for patent infringement
Read More Halo Electronics v. Pulse Electronics (14-1513), Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (15-375), United Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar (15-7), Puerto Rico v. Franklin Calif. Tax-Free Trust (15-233) and United States v. Bryant (15-240)RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community (15-138), Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro (14-415), Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States (14-916) and Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee (15-446)
Having cleared some near-blockbusters off the table on Friday (everything’s relative this term), we’ve still got an eight-case backlog to get through before the final decision day of OT15 on Monday. Since we’ve got an even split of civil and criminal cases in the queue, we’re going to break them up accordingly. Read on for summaries of our civil backlog: RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European
Read More RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community (15-138), Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro (14-415), Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States (14-916) and Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee (15-446)
Williams v. Pennsylvania (15-5040), Dietz v. Bouldin (15-458), Simmons v. Himmelreich (15-109) and Ross v. Blake (15-339)
Though the Puerto Rican Day Parade marched down Fifth Avenue Sunday, the Commonwealth was getting much less love on One First Street. Yesterday morning, in Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust (15-233), the Court held that Puerto Rico is a “State” under the Bankruptcy Code, with the result that a statute it enacted in response to its ongoing fiscal crisis is preempted by
Read More Williams v. Pennsylvania (15-5040), Dietz v. Bouldin (15-458), Simmons v. Himmelreich (15-109) and Ross v. Blake (15-339)U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes (15-290), Johnson v. Lee (15-789), Lynch v. Arizona (15-8366) and Order List
As we settle into June, the Eight seem to be clearing out the less difficult decisions in preparation for what could be a messy end to the term, given some controversial issues (abortion, affirmative action, immigration) and the lack of a tie-breaking vote to decide them. This morning, the Court issued two unanimous decisions arising out of the prison context: Ross v. Blake (15-339)
Read More U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes (15-290), Johnson v. Lee (15-789), Lynch v. Arizona (15-8366) and Order List