Greetings Court fans!
Two unanimous opinions today, both from the February sitting. In both cases, the Court rejected rules that would have required complicated balancing tests or detailed factual inquiries, opting instead for simple rules.
In the first opinion, Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt (02-42), the Court (per O’Connor) held that the Full Faith and Credit Clause does not require Nevada to give full…
Read More Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt (02-42), Massaro v. United States (01-1559)Three new opinions today, all relatively straightforward. After today, Scalia is in the lead with 6 published opinions for the Term. The Chief and Thomas are bringing up the rear with 3 published opinions each.
In honor of Scalia, I’ll begin with his latest opinion. In Jinks v. Richland County (02-258), Scalia wrote for a unanimous Court to hold that 28 USC 1367(d) is…
Read More Jinks v. Richland County (02-258), Clackamas Gastroenterology Assoc. v. Wells (01-1435), Dole Food v. Patrickson (01-593)No opinions today, but an unusually meaty order list. The Court granted cert in 5 cases and asked the Solicitor General to weigh in on 3 others.
The Court granted cert in the following cases:
1. Arizona v. Gant (02-1019): This is a Fourth Amendment case about the scope of automobile searches incident to arrest. The Arizona Court of Appeals held that because Mr.
Read More Order ListThree new opinions today, and an order list. Since the opinions today were relatively big ones, I’ll start there.
First, in State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell (01-1289), the Court (Kennedy for himself, Rehnquist, Stevens, O’Connor, Souter, and Breyer) held that a $145 million punitive damages award was grossly excessive in violation of the Due Process Clause when the full compensatory damages…
Read More State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell (01-1289), Virginia v. Black (01-1107), Pacificare Health Systems v. Book (02-215) and order listJust when you think the Court must spend all its time on big, sexy issues like affirmative action, they come down with an ERISA preemption case. Speaking of the affirmative action cases, I hope you had a chance to catch at least part of the arguments yesterday. (I tried, but had a fight with my computer so will try again tonight.) I’m told — by…
Read More Kentucky Assn of Health Plans v. Miller (00-1471)In an unusual move, the Court issued two opinions today along with its usual Monday order list. In general, the Court releases opinions on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, but perhaps to avoid distractions before tomorrow’s affirmative action arguments, released opinions today.
Before I get to the opinions, there’s not much to report from the order list. The Court denied cert in a slew of cases, including…
Read More Archer v. Warner (01-1418), Branch v. Smith (01-1437)