October Term 2021
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October Term 2020
End of term summary chart
PennEast Pipeline v. New Jersey
The federal government may constitutionally grant pipeline companies the authority to condemn necessary rights-of-way in which a state has an interest
A California regulation allowing union organizers access to agriculture employers’ property to solicit support for unionization up to three hours a day, 120 days a year is a per se physical taking under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
The City of Philadelphia violated the First Amendment when it refused to contract with Catholic Social Service certify foster care families because CSS refuses to work with same-sex couples
City of San Antonio, Texas v. Hotels.com
Federal district courts may not alter a court of appeals’ allocation of appellate costs
Police community caretaking duties don’t justify warrantless searches and seizures in the home.
B.P. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
A federal court of appeals may review any grounds the district court considered for trying to remove a case to federal court where one of the grounds was federal officer or civil rights removal
A person may be “seized” by a police officer per the Fourth Amendment even if the person gets awayIn
To have a “redressable injury” required to bring a lawsuit a plaintiff need only ask for nominal damages ($1)
City of Chicago v. Fulton
The City of Chicago didn’t violate the Bankruptcy Code’s automatic stay provision by holding onto a vehicle impounded after a bankruptcy petition was filed
Carney v. Adams
James Adams lacked standing to challenge a Delaware constitutional provision that requires that appointments to Delaware’s major courts reflect a partisan balance
City of Portland v. FCC (cert. denied)
Whether the Federal Communication Commission Small Cell Order, which limits fees local governments can charge for use of public land to build 5G, violates the Telecommunications Act
October Term 2019
End of term summary chart
Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez
County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund
When there is a “functional equivalent of a direct discharge” from a point source to navigable waters an appropriate permit is required under the Clean Water Act
New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. City of New York
A challenge to New York City’s rule disallowing residents to transport firearms to a second home or shooting range outside of the city is moot
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania
Religious employers and employers with moral objections may be exempted from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate
Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s debt-collection exception is content-based
October Term 2018
End of term summary chart
When police officers have probable cause to believe an unconscious person has committed a drunk driving offense, warrantless blood draws are generally permissible
Auer deference, courts deferring to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of their ambiguous regulations, remains good law
Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas
Tennessee’s law requiring alcohol retailers to live in the state for two years to receive a license is unconstitutional
American Legion v. American Humanist Association
The Bladensburg Cross does not violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause
The statute of limitations for a fabrication of evidence claim begins running upon acquittal
A property owner may proceed directly to federal court with a takings claim
PDR Network v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic
The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court to decide two questions the Court posed
Virginia’s statute prohibiting uranium mining isn’t preempted by the federal Atomic Energy Act
The “dual-sovereignty” doctrine, allowing two sovereigns to punish someone for the same crime, remains good law
Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis
Title VII’s charge-filing requirement is a “mandatory procedural prescription” that a court must consider if timely raised
The existence of probable cause generally defeats a First Amendment retaliatory arrest case
The Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause is “incorporated” or applicable to the states and local governments
Weyerhaeuser Co. v. United State Fish and Wildlife Service
“Critical habitat” under the Endangered Species Act must also be habitat
Mt. Lemmon Fire District v. Guido
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act applies to state and local government employers with less than 20 employees
October Term 2017
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California notice requirements for pregnancy clinics likely violate the First Amendment
The third travel ban doesn't violate the Immigration and Nationality Act or the Establishment Clause
States and local governments require retailers with no in-state physical presence to collect sales tax if they have a substantial nexus with the state
Cert stage amicus brief here
Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach
A citizen who was arrested for refusing to stop talking at a city council meeting was not barred from bringing a First Amendment retaliatory arrest claim against the City even if it had probable cause to arrest him
Minnesota Voter Alliance v. Mansky
Minnesota's ban on political apparel at polling places violates the First Amendment
Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute
Ohio’s method of removing voters from voter rolls after failing to respond to a confirmation notice and six years of inactivity did not violate the National Voter Registration Act
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Colorado’s decisionmaking process for cake maker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple failed to give full and fair consideration to his religious objection
The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which prohibits states and local governments from authorizing sports gambling, violates the Constitution’s anticommandeering doctrine
D.C. police officers had probable cause to arrest individuals for holding a raucous, late-night party in a house they did not have permission to enter
"Tolled" under 28 U.S.C 1367(d) means suspended or that the clock is stopped under
City of Hays, Kansas v. Vogt (dismissed as improvidently granted)
Is the Fifth Amendment violated when a public employee’s compelled, self-incriminating statements are used against him or her at a probable cause hearing rather than at a trial
Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District v. SolarCity (settled)
May a district court's denial of state-action immunity by immediately appealed
October Term 2016
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No taking occurred where state law and local ordinance “merged” nonconforming, adjacent lots under common ownership, meaning the property owners could not sell one of the lots by itself
A state statute making it a felony for a registered sex offender to access social networking sites where minors can create profiles violates the First Amendment Free Speech Clause
Town of Chester v. Laroe Estates
An intervenor must possess Article III standing to intervene in a lawsuit as a matter of right if he or she wishes to pursue relief not requested by the plaintiff
County of Los Angeles v. Mendez
Police officers can't be liable for the use of reasonable force under the "provocation rule"
Bank of America v. City of Miami
Local governments have standing to sue banks under the Fair Housing Act for economic harm caused to them by discriminatory lending practices; to prove causation local governments must show “some direct relation between the injury asserted and the injurious conduct alleged”
Coventry Health Care of Missouri v. Nevils
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Act (FEHBA) preemption clause overrides state laws prohibiting subrogation and reimbursement and that the preemption clause is consistent with the Supremacy Clause
Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman
A state statute prohibiting vendors from advertising a single price and a statement that credit card customers must pay more regulates speech under the First Amendment
Even after “legal process” has occurred a person may bring a Fourth Amendment claim challenging pretrial detention
Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl (cert denied)
Supreme Court refused to hear a case arguing that a Colorado law requiring remote sellers to inform Colorado purchasers annually of their purchases and send the same information to the Colorado Department of Revenue discriminates against interstate commerce
Ivy v. Morath (dismissed as moot)
When are state and local governments responsible for ensuring that a private actor complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act
October Term 2015
End of term summary chart
States may criminalize an arrestee’s refusal to take a warrantless breath test
United States Army Corp of Engineers v. Hawkes
A court may review an Army Corp of Engineers approved jurisdictional determination that property contains “waters of the United States”
Heffernan v. City of Paterson, New Jersey
A public employer violates the First Amendment when it acts on a mistaken belief that an employee engaged in First Amendment protected political activity
Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt
A state court apply a damages cap, which applies to the state, to foreign states and local governments sued in its court
Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing
Maryland’s program which guarantees a power plant generator a contractual rate rather than the “clearing price” wholesale rate set at a federally-approved capacity auction is preempted by the Federal Power Act
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel includes allowing a criminal defendant to use untainted substitute assets to hire an attorney
Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
ERISA preempt a Vermont statute requiring health insurance companies to report claims data to the state
United Student Aid Funds v. Bible
Supreme Court should overturn Auer deference to federal agencies (certiorari denied)
October Term 2014
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The objectively unreasonable standard applies to pretrial detainee excessive force claims
Hotel registry ordinances that allow police inspections without precompliance judicial review violate the Fourth Amendment; Fourth Amendment facial challenges are possible
Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona
Treating temporary directional, political, and ideological signs differently is a content-based regulation subject to strict scrutiny
To bring a religious accommodation claim an applicant/employee need only show that the need for a religious accommodation was a motivating factor in an employment decision
Maryland's failure to offer residents a full credit against income taxes paid to other states is unconstitutional
City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan
Police granted qualified immunity for reentering the room of armed, violent, mentally ill person
Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association
Federal agency do not have to engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking before changing an interpretive rule
Alabama Department of Revenue v. CSX Transportation
Railroads can be compared to their competitors when determining whether a tax is discriminatory in violation of the 4-R Act. Different taxes paid by railroads and their competitors must be compared with determining whether a tax railroads pay is discriminatory
Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl
The Tax Injunction Act does not bar a federal court from deciding whether a state law that attempts to increase use tax collection on purchases from remote vendors is unconstitutional
North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC
When the majority of state board members are market participants, the board must be "actively supervised” to be exempt from federal antitrust law
T-Mobile South v. City of Roswell
Local governments must provide reasons contemporaneously to denying a cell phone tower construction application
Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk
Time spent in security screenings is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act
October Term 2013
Federal courts may not invoke federal abstention under Younger and refuse to hear a case just because a pending state-court case involves the same issue
Railroad rights-of-way are easements under federal law, and landowners are no longer burdened when railroad companies abandon rights-of-way
Police may use deadly force to stop a significant threat to safety until they are reasonably certain that the threat has ended
Secret service agents are entitled to qualified immunity in a suit alleging viewpoint discrimination against protesters because their actions were in response to a legitimate security threat to the president
A Massachusetts law, which prohibited standing in a public area within 30 feet of an abortion clinic or other reproductive health facility, is unconstitutional
The federal government must exempt privately and closely held companies from a requirement to provide employees with no-cost contraceptives, so as not to run afoul of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
October Term 2012
Decker v. Northwestern Environmental Defense Center
A provision of the Clean Water Act, which places limitations on suits that challenge EPA decisions, neither applies to nor bars a suit by a private citizen against an alleged violator of the Act
LA County Flood Control District v. NRDC
Allowing the flow of water from an improved portion of a waterway to an unimproved area of the same waterway does not qualify as pollution under the Clean Water Act
Federal Medicaid anti-lien provision supersedes and pre-empts states' attempts to recover monetary portions of tort settlements that are not designated "for medical care"
Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District
Municipalities and other land-use agencies imposing conditions, including monetary conditions, on granting land development permits must ensure that the condition is proportional and that there is a reasonable nexus between the condition and the development permit
The State of Virginia did not violate the Privileges and Immunities or Commerce Clauses of the Constitution when it passed a law allowing Virginia citizens access to public records but giving no such privilege to non-citizens
States may utilize DNA testing in routine police booking procedures so long as its primary purpose is identification.
American Trucking Association v. Los Angeles
It is a violation of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) for the LA Board of Habor Commissioners to require trucking companies to adhere to strict regulations on trucking.
Courts must apply Chevron deference to an agency's interpretation of a statutory ambiguity concerning the scope of the agency's jurisdiction
October Term 2011
Police officers are entitled to qualified immunity if they are being sued for violating a right that was not recognized at the time of the arrest
The City of Indianapolis had a rational basis for differentiating between those who paid taxes in a lump sum and those who paid in installments. Because of this, they were justified in later providing reimbursements to installment taxpayers and not providing them to the lump sum taxpayers
An individual temporarily hired by the government is entitled to qualified immunity.
October Term 2010
A prosecutor's office may not be held responsible for inadequate training of employees when a plaintiff can prove only one violation of the Brady rule (requiring that prosecutors disclose information, even if it is favorable to a defendant)
Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri
State and local government employees cannot sue employers in a retaliation claim using the Petitions Clause of the First Amendment if the employee's speech was not a matter of public concern
Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California
Medicaid providers and recipients may not maintain a Supremacy Clause action claiming that the federal Medicaid Act supercedes a state law, if that state law has been declared consistent with the federal law by CMS; however, they may still maintain an action on separate grounds
October Term 2009
Case dismissed where there was no longer a material dispute about the ownership of state police-seized property
In extraordinary circumstances, a court may award unusually high attorney's fees to counsel that delivers exceptional performance
Pottawattamie County v. McGhee
Case dismissed pursuant to Rule 46 of the Supreme Court, and the matter was settled by the parties
Graham County v. United States Ex Rel. Wilson
The False Claims Act does not allow private citizens to sue defrauders on behalf of the government and receive a portion of the recovery if the fraudulent activity has already been discovered and made public by the government
Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida
Residents cannot have a valid takings claim against Florida government and Florida Supreme Court for giving newly created shoreline land to the government where they cannot show that they had a valid, existing interest in the land at issue
Police officer is not entitled to privacy of text messages when messages are sent using government-owned pagers, particularly when the messages were discovered pursuant to a reasonable pager use auditing scheme.
As a general rule, disclosure of the signatures of persons who sign petitions for ballot referenda does not violate the First Amendment.
October Term 2008
The Court broadened the two-step immunity analysis promulgated in Saucier v. Katz to make it less restrictive and non-mandatory, giving courts the discretion to apply the two-step analysis as they see fit
Because the Narragansett tribe was not under federal jurisdiction at the time the Indian Reorganization Act was passed, the Secretary of the Interior had no right to seize the tribe's land from state control to federal control
Prosecutor was entitled to immunity because prosecutor's actions were "intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process"
Police may order a passenger out of a vehicle and conduct a pat-down search in a routine traffic stop if police reasonably suspect that the passenger is armed and dangerous
District Attorney’s Office for the Third Judicial District, et al. v. Osborne
Convicted persons do not have a due process right to access DNA evidence for post-conviction re-testing
Forest Grove School District v. T.A.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides for reimbursement of private special education expenses if the public school system does not provide a "free appropriate public education," regardless of whether the disabled individual previously received public special education
Cuomo v. The Clearing House Association
The National Bank Act does not give the federal Comptroller of the Currency the power to preempt state law enforcement against national banks
Trial delays should generally be attributed to defendants, rather than to appointed counsel, when conducting a speedy trial analysis
October Term 2007
Department of Revenue of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, v. Davis
State of Kentucky acted constitutionally in implementing a program that incentivized buying bonds issued by the state and municipalities
Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport Association
The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) preempts a state law that requires air and motor carriers to take steps to ensure that tobacco is not sold to minors
Kentucky Retirement Systems v. EEOC
The use of age as a determining factor in allocating retirement plans is not arbitrary, and therefore the system is not discriminatory
A state law permitting plaintiffs to sue for faulty products that would not have reached the market absent a company's fraud is not preempted by a federal law prohibiting fraudulent communications to government agencies
Florida Dept. of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias
The Bankruptcy Code's tax exemption applies only to sales made after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan has been confirmed, not simply after one has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Engquist v. Oregon Dept. of Agriculture
Public employees are excluded from bringing class-of-one (personal) equal protection claims against employers