OT07

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The Court’s out for a brief recess again, but it left us with one decision yesterday, holding 5-4 in Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (06-9130) that the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) does not allow for lawsuits based on the wrongful detention of property by federal law enforcement officials, broadly defined. The holding itself is not as interesting as the Justices’ various exchanges on

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Read More Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (06-9130) and order list

In a rare display of what passes for judicial humor, the Court released two tax opinions on the dreaded April 15th. The Court released three additional decisions yesterday, which we’ll bring you in a separate Update to break things up.
In United States v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Co. (07-308), the Court held that when the Internal Revenue Code says you have to exhaust the

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Read More United States v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Co. (07-308), MeadWestvaco Corporation v. Illinois Department of Revenue (06-1413) and order list

The big news of the week was the Court’s consideration of District of Columbia v. Heller, in which it appears we may get some sort of ruling blessing an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment – though we don’t expect to see that ruling for a few more months. Apart from Heller, the Court issued two decisions this week as

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Read More Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party (06-713), Washington v. Washington State Republican Party (06-730), Snyder v. Louisiana (06-10119) and order list

We have much to report, including two retaliation decisions, a Voting Rights Act case, and two criminal decisions. We’ll get right to it.
It was no mistake that the Court’s retaliation decisions were released on the same day. In CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries (06-1431), the Court, led by Justice Breyer, found that 42 U.S.C. § 1981, guaranteeing all persons “the same right .

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Read More CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries (06-1431), Gomez-Perez v. Potter (06-1321), Riley v. Kennedy (07-77), Gonzalez v. United States (06-11612) and United States v. Rodriguez (06-1646)

We’re barely a week into the new Term, and already we have our first ruling in an argued case – though the per curiam ruling in Board of Education of the City School District of New York v. Tom F. (06-637) itself offers very little of note. The one-sentence opinion states that the Justices split 4-4 (Justice Kennedy, ever the indispensable Justice, did not participate),

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Read More Board of Education of the City School District of New York v. Tom F. (06-637) and order list

We have a few decisions to catch you up on since our last Update, bringing us to a “whopping” 23 opinions for the Term. This sluggish start is consistent with last year’s 22 opinions by this date, but is significantly off the Court’s 2005 pace of 38. So, once again, we’re in for a big next three months.
In Sprint/United Management Co. v. Mendelsohn (06-1221)

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Read More Sprint/United Management Co. v. Mendelsohn (06-1221), Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki (06-1322), Boulware v. United States (06-1509), Warner-Lambert Co. v. Kent (06-1498) and order list