On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court decided Rimini Street Inc v. Oracle USA Inc., a case involving the scope of a federal district court’s ability to award “full costs” to a party in a copyright dispute according to 28 U. S. C. §§ 1821 and 1920. Oracle sued Rimini Street for copyright infringement in federal district court and won a multimillion dollar jury award. After judgment, the District Court ordered Rimini Street to pay Oracle $12.8 million for litigation expen...
Mar 27, 2019•15 min
On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court decided Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, a case involving a split among the Courts of Appeals regarding when a copyright owner may initiate a suit for infringement in federal court. Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. is an online news organization that licenses articles to different websites but retains the copyright to those articles. Wall-Street.com and Fourth Estate entered into a license agreement for a number of articles written by F...
Mar 20, 2019•10 min
On February 20, 2019, the Supreme Court decided Timbs v. Indiana, a case involving the incorporation of the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause against the States. Following his arrest en route to a controlled drug purchase after having previously purchased about $400 worth of heroin from undercover police officers, Tyson Timbs pled guilty to felony counts of drug dealing and conspiracy to commit theft, and was sentenced to a year of home detention and several years of probation, plu...
Mar 20, 2019•14 min
On January 9, 2019, the Supreme Court heard argument in Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, a case considering whether one state may, without its consent, be sued by a private citizen in another state’s courts. In the 1990s, Gilbert Hyatt moved from California to Nevada. Following an investigation and audit, however, the Franchise Tax Board of California (FTB) claimed that he had misstated the date of his move and therefore owed California millions in unpaid taxes, penalties and in...
Mar 14, 2019•16 min
On November 27, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Carpenter v. Murphy, a case considering the 1866 territorial boundaries of the Creek Nations and Indian country jurisdiction. In 1999, Patrick Murphy, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation confessed to the killing of George Jacobs. The State of Oklahoma charged him with murder and he was convicted in state court, receiving the death penalty. In 2004, Murphy sought post-conviction relief in federal district court, arguing that the Oklaho...
Mar 11, 2019•39 min
On January 14, 2019, the Supreme Court heard argument in Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority, a case involving a dispute over the “discretionary-function exception” to waivers of federal sovereign immunity. In 2013, Anthony Szozda and Gary and Venida Thacker were participating in a fishing tournament on the Tennessee River. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) had a crew near the river, trying to raise a downed power line that had partially fallen into the river instead of crossing...
Mar 04, 2019•13 min
On January 8, 2019, the Supreme Court heard argument in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, a case considering whether a copyright owner may sue for infringement in federal court after merely applying for registration of the copyright, or whether the Registrar of Copyrights must first act on the application. Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. is an online news organization that licenses articles to different websites but retains the copyright to those articles. Wall-Street.com...
Mar 04, 2019•10 min
On December 10, 2018, the Supreme Court decided the consolidated cases United States v. Stitt and United States v. Sims, both concerning the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). ACCA imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence on any federal firearms offender who has three or more convictions for a “violent” felony or serious drug offense. “Burglary” qualifies as a violent felony under ACCA, but the statute applies a “generic” understanding of bur...
Feb 27, 2019•15 min
On November 26, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Nieves v. Bartlett, a case considering the merit of retaliatory arrest claims in the presence of probable cause for arrest. In 2014, Russell Bartlett was arrested by two police officers, Sergeant Nieves and Trooper Weight, during an outdoor party that was part of the annual “Arctic Man” festival held in Alaska’s Hoodoo Mountains. Bartlett, who appeared intoxicated, approached Trooper Weight, who had been speaking to a mi...
Feb 07, 2019•15 min
On November 27, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert, a case considering whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f), which imposes a 14-day deadline for appealing from a grant or denial of class-action certification, can be equitably tolled. Troy Lambert bought a dietary supplement that claimed to be an aphrodisiac containing sexual performance-enhancing herbs. He thereafter brought a class action in federal district court against the drug’s manufactu...
Jan 17, 2019•17 min
On December 4, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. This case arose out of a dispute over the validity of a patent covering a product used to reduce the likelihood of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. At issue in this case is whether agreements entered into by Helsinn more than one year prior to filing for patent protection put the invention “on sale” and thus would invalidate the patent. Although the meaning of &l...
Dec 14, 2018•16 min
On November 28, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Timbs v. Indiana, a case involving the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the concept of “incorporation” against the states. In May 2013, Tyson Timbs was apprehended en route to a controlled drug purchase, having previously purchased about $400 worth of heroin from undercover police officers. He ultimately pled guilty to felony counts of drug dealing and conspiracy to commit theft, a...
Dec 12, 2018•13 min
On October 9, 2018, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Stokeling v. United States and the consolidated cases United States v. Stitt and United States v. Sims, all disputes that involve the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). ACCA imposes a 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence on any federal firearms offender who has three or more convictions for a “violent” felony or serious drug offense. In determining whether any given predicate felony conviction qualifies as “vi...
Dec 06, 2018•18 min
On October 31, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Jam v. International Finance Corporation, a case involving the scope of the International Organizations Immunities Act. The International Finance Group (IFC) is an international organization which provides loans to projects in developing countries that do not have the necessary private capital for projects. Under the International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA), the IFC is an organization designated to “enjoy the same immunity f...
Nov 28, 2018•9 min
On October 10, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Nielsen v. Preap, a case involving the exemption of a criminal alien from mandatory detention without bond due to a delay in arrest after release from criminal custody. As codified, § 1226(c) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (“INA”) provides for the mandatory detention of criminal aliens “when [they are] released” from criminal custody, and for the holding of these aliens without bond. The three plaint...
Oct 17, 2018•14 min
On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, a case considering the forced subsidizing of unions by public employees, even if they choose not to join the union or strongly disagree with many positions the union takes in collective bargaining. Under Illinois law, public employees are permitted to unionize; and if a majority of employees in a particular bargaining union vote to unionize, then that union is designate...
Sep 12, 2018•23 min
On June 18, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, FL, a case involving a claim of retaliatory arrest in violation of the First Amendment. Fane Lozman moved to Riviera Beach, FL in 2006, where he lived on a floating home in the Riviera Beach Marina--a part of the city designated for redevelopment under the City’s new redevelopment plan that would use eminent domain to revitalize the waterfront. After hearing news of the plan, Lozman became an “outspoken crit...
Aug 20, 2018•17 min
On June 11, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Washington v. United States, a case considering off-reservation fishing rights of multiple Native American Tribes in the State of Washington. The 1854-1855 Stevens Treaties were a series of treaties between several Native American Tribes and the State of Washington. As part of these treaties, the Tribes relinquished land, watersheds, and offshore waters adjacent to a particular area, “Case Area,” in exchange for guaranteed off-reservation f...
Jul 30, 2018•11 min
On June 18, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Gill v. Whitford, a case considering claims of partisan gerrymandering. In Wisconsin’s 2010 elections, Republicans won the governorship and acquired control of the state senate. In 2011, pursuant to the state constitution’s requirement that the legislature must redraw the boundaries of its districts following each census, the Wisconsin legislature adopted a redistricting plan, Act 43, for state legislative districts. With Act 43 in effect R...
Jul 19, 2018•19 min
On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court decided McCoy v. Louisiana, a case considering whether defense counsel may--against the defendant’s express wishes--concede his client’s guilt in an effort to avoid the death penalty. In 2008, Robert McCoy was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of the mother, stepfather, and son of his estranged wife. McCoy pleaded not guilty, maintaining that he was out of state at the time of the murder. In 2010, his relationship with t...
Jun 20, 2018•16 min
On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Murphy v. NCAA, a case involving a conflict between state-authorized sports gambling and a federal statute: the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA). PASPA prohibits state-sanctioned gambling with respect to amateur and professional sporting events. Among other things, the statute allows sports leagues whose events are the subject of betting schemes to bring an action to enjoin any gambling. PASPA did except certain states from...
Jun 13, 2018•26 min
On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, a case considering whether corporations may be sued under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Between 2004 and 2010, survivors of several terrorist attacks in the Middle East (or family members or estate representatives of the victims) filed lawsuits in federal district court in New York against Arab Bank, PLC, an international bank headquartered in Jordan. Plaintiffs alleged that Arab Bank had financed and facilitated the attacks ...
Jun 04, 2018•13 min
On April 17, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Wilson v. Sellers, a case involving the standard federal courts should use to analyze a state appellate court’s summary denial of habeas relief when applying federal habeas law. In 1996, Marion Wilson was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, and both his conviction and sentence were confirmed on direct appeal. Wilson then sought habeas relief in state superior court, claiming that his trial counsel offered ineffective assistance in invest...
May 30, 2018•14 min
On March 5, 2018, the Supreme Court decided U.S. Bank National Association v. Village at Lakeridge, LLC, a case involving how appellate courts should review a lower court’s determination that a person related in some way to a bankruptcy debtor is an “insider”--and therefore subject to special restrictions that the federal Bankruptcy Code imposes on insiders. In 2011, the Village at Lakeridge (“Lakeridge”) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which seeks to facilitate a ...
May 18, 2018•15 min
On February 27, 2018 the Supreme Court decided Jennings v. Rodriguez, a case involving a lawsuit by aliens challenging their continued detention under civil immigration statutes without the benefit of an individualized bond hearing as to the justification for ongoing detention. Alejandro Rodriguez, a Mexican citizen and legal permanent resident of the United States, was convicted of a drug offense and vehicular theft, and ordered removed from the country. He was detained under 8 U.S.C. § 12...
May 08, 2018•18 min
On April 2, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Encino Motorcars v. Navarro, a case on its second trip to the high court regarding a dispute over the interpretation of the Fair Labor Standard Act’s overtime-pay requirements and whether it exempts service advisors at car dealerships. Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938 to “protect all covered workers from substandard wages and oppressive working hours,” and it requires overtime pay for employees covered unde...
May 01, 2018•15 min
On April 16, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in WesternGeco, LLC v. ION Geophysical Corporation, a case that the Court again took up after having remanded it to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court’s 2016 decision Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. In 2015, WesternGeco sued ION for patent infringement. The jury found in favor of WesternGeco, awarding it $93.4 million in lost profits and a reasonable royalt...
Apr 25, 2018•13 min
On March 21, 2018, the Supreme Court heard argument in Upper Skagit Indian Tribe v. Lundgren, a case that considers whether a state court’s exercise of in rem jurisdiction can be blocked by a tribal assertion of sovereign immunity. The Lundgren family owns land in Skagit County, Washington. A barbed wire fence with a gate runs across the southern portion of an adjacent lot, near--but not up against--the edge of the Lundgrens’ lot. Since 1947, however, the Lundgrens have treated that ...
Apr 20, 2018•10 min
On April 2, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Kisela v. Hughes. In 2010, Andrew Kisela, a police officer in Tucson, Arizona, responded to a report of a woman hacking a tree with a kitchen knife before returning into her home. Two other police officers reported to the scene as well. At the scene, another woman, Sharon Chadwick, was standing in the driveway of a nearby house; Hughes re-emerged from her house and walked towards Chadwick. A chain-link fence with a locked gate separated the officers fr...
Apr 20, 2018•15 min
On January 22, 2018, the Supreme Court decided Artis v. District of Columbia, a case concerning the scope of the tolling language contained in the federal supplemental jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1367(d). When a federal court dismisses the only claim serving as the basis for its exercise of jurisdiction, it ordinarily also dismisses (without resolving) any related non-federal claims that were part of the same case or controversy. Should the plaintiff wish to refile and pursue those cl...
Apr 11, 2018•11 min
