On June 3, 2021 the Supreme Court decided Van Buren v. United States. The issue was whether a person who is authorized to access information on a computer for certain purposes violates Section 1030(a)(2) of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act if he accesses the same information for an improper purpose. In a 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Barrett, the Court reversed the ruling of the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and remanded the case. The Supreme Court held, “An individual &lsquo...
Jun 14, 2021•17 min
On June 14th, 2021, the Supreme Court decided Terry v. U.S. The issue before the Court was whether pre-August 3rd, 2010, crack offenders sentenced under 21 U.S.C 841(b)(1)(c) have a “covered offense” under Section 404 of the First Step Act. Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett joined. We are joined today by Vikrant P. Reddy, Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Koch Institute.
Jun 14, 2021•19 min
On May 24, 2021 the Supreme Court decided United States v. Palomar-Santiago. The issue was whether a defendant who was removed from the United States is automatically entitled to a defense of invalid removal where the crime underlying his removal is no longer a qualifying removal offense within his circuit. In a 9-0 opinion authored by Justice Sotomayor, the Court reversed the ruling of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and remanded the case. The Supreme Court held, “Each of 8 U.S...
Jun 11, 2021•23 min
On June 10th, 2021, the Supreme Court decided Borden v. United States. The issue before the Court was whether the “use of force” clause in the Armed Career Criminal Act encompasses crimes with an intent requirement of mere recklessness. Justice Elena Kagan authored the four-justice plurality opinion in which Breyer, Sotomayor, and Gorsuch joined, reversing the judgement of the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, concluding that, quote, “a criminal offense with a mens rea of recklessness does n...
Jun 10, 2021•12 min
On June 1, 2021 the Supreme Court decided United States v. Cooley. The issue was whether the lower courts erred in suppressing evidence on the theory that a police officer of an Indian tribe lacked authority to temporarily detain and search the respondent, Joshua James Cooley, a non-Indian, on a public right-of-way within a reservation based on a potential violation of state or federal law. In a 9-0 opinion authored by Justice Breyer, the Court vacated the ruling of the Court of Appeals for the ...
Jun 07, 2021•11 min
On June 7, 2021, the Supreme Court decided Sanchez v. Mayorkas. The issue before the Court was whether the conferral of Temporary Protected Status under 8 U.S.C. § 1254a constitutes an “admission” into the United States under 8 U.S.C. § 1255, adjustment of status of nonimmigrant to that of person admitted for permanent residence. The Honorable Grover Rees, III, retired U.S. Ambassador to East Timor, and former General Counsel of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service from 1991 to 1993, jo...
Jun 07, 2021•16 min
On June 1, 2021 the Supreme Court decided City of San Antonio, Texas v. Hotels.com L.P. The issue was whether, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit alone has held, district courts “lack[] discretion to deny or reduce” appellate costs deemed “taxable” in district court under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 39(e). In a 9-0 opinion authored by Justice Alito, the Court affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Supreme Court held, &...
Jun 03, 2021•25 min
On May 17, 2021 the Supreme Court decided BP P.L.C. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.The issue was was whether 28 U.S.C. 1447(d) permits a court of appeals to review any issue encompassed in a district court’s order remanding a removed case to state court when the removing defendant premised removal in part on the federal-officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. 1442, or the civil-rights removal statute, 28 U.S.C. 1443. In a 7-1 opinion authored by Justice Gorsuch, the Court vacated the ru...
May 25, 2021•10 min
On April 1, 2021 the Supreme Court decided Facebook Inc. v. Duguid. The issue was whether the definition of an "automatic telephone dialing system" in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 encompasses any device that can “store” and “automatically dial” telephone numbers, even if the device does not “us[e] a random or sequential number generator.” In a 9-0 opinion authored by Justice Sotamayor, the Court reversed the ruling of the Court of Appeals for ...
May 25, 2021•22 min
On May 17, 2021 the Supreme Court decided Edwards v. Vannoy. The issue was whether the Supreme Court’s decision in Ramos v. Louisiana applies retroactively to cases on federal collateral review. In a 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Kavanaugh, the Court affirmed the ruling of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, holding, “The jury-unanimity rule announced in Ramos v. Louisiana does not apply retroactively on federal collateral review.” Justice Thomas filed a...
May 24, 2021•12 min
On April 21, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com. The question before the Court was whether, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit alone has held, district courts “lack[] discretion to deny or reduce” appellate costs deemed “taxable” in district court under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 39(e). Charles Campbell, Associate Professor of Law and Interim Dean at Faulkner University's Jones School of Law, joins us tod...
May 19, 2021•30 min
On May 17, 2021 the Supreme Court decided Caniglia v. Strom. The issue was whether the “community caretaking” exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement extends to the home. In a 9-0 opinion authored by Justice Thomas, the Court vacated the ruling of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and remanded the case. The Supreme Court held, “Neither the holding nor logic of Cady v. Dombrowski justifies the removal of Edward Caniglia’s firearms from his ho...
May 19, 2021•20 min
On April 21, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Minerva Surgical Inc. v. Hologic Inc. The question before the Court was whether a defendant in a patent infringement action who assigned the patent, or is in privity with an assignor of the patent, may have a defense of invalidity heard on the merits. Daniel Ortiz, Michael J. and Jane R. Horvitz Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law, joins us today t...
May 18, 2021•17 min
On April 20, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in United States v. Gary. The question before the Court was whether a defendant who pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) and 924(a), is automatically entitled to plain-error relief if the district court did not advise him that one element of that offense is knowledge of his status as a felon, regardless of whether he can show that the district court’s error affected the outcome of the ...
May 18, 2021•19 min
On May 4, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Terry v. United States. The question before the court was whether pre-August 3, 2010, crack offenders sentenced under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) have a “covered offense” under Section 404 of the First Step Act. Vikrant Reddy, Senior Reserch Fellow at the Charles Koch Institute, joins us today to discuss this case's oral argument.
May 11, 2021•15 min
On April 22, 2021 the Supreme Court decided Carr v. Saul. was whether a claimant seeking disability benefits under the Social Security Act forfeits an Appointments Clause challenge to the appointment of an administrative law judge by failing to present that challenge during administrative proceedings. In a 9-0 opinion authored by Justice Sotomayor, the Court reversed the ruling of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and remanded the case. The Supreme Court held, “P...
Apr 30, 2021•25 min
On April 28, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. The question before the court was whether Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which holds that public school officials may regulate speech that would materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school, applies to student speech that occurs off campus. Michael Dimino, Professor of Law at Widener University Commonwealth Law School, joins us today to discus...
Apr 30, 2021•34 min
On April 19, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Sanchez v. Mayorkas. The question before the court was under 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(f)(4), a grant of temporary protected status authorizes eligible noncitizens to obtain lawful-permanent-resident status under 8 U.S.C. § 1255. Hon. Grover Joseph Rees joins us today to dicsuss this case's oral argument.
Apr 29, 2021•25 min
On April 22, 2021 the Supreme Court decided Jones v. Mississippi. The issue was whether the Eighth Amendment requires the sentencing authority to make a finding that a juvenile is permanently incorrigible before imposing a sentence of life without parole. In a 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Kavanaugh, the Court affirmed the ruling of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, holding, “The Eighth Amendment does not require a finding that a juvenile is permanently incorrigible before imposing a sen...
Apr 28, 2021•16 min
On March 23, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in United States v. Cooley. The question before the court was whether the lower courts erred in suppressing evidence on the theory that a police officer of an Indian tribe lacked authority to temporarily detain and search the respondent, Joshua James Cooley, a non-Indian, on a public right-of-way within a reservation based on a potential violation of state or federal law. Anthony J. Ferate, Of Counsel at Spencer Fane LLP, joins us today to ...
Apr 26, 2021•20 min
On April 1, 2021, the Supreme Court decided Florida v. Georgia, an ongoing case of original jurisdiction involving Florida’s desire to limit the amount of water that Georgia uses in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. Justice Barrett, writing for the 9-0 majority, dismissed the case, holding that Florida failed to establish that Georgia’s overconsumption of interstate waters was either a substantial factor contributing to, or the sole cause of, Florida’s injuries....
Apr 13, 2021•19 min
On March 29, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. The questions before the court were whether, first, a defendant in a securities class action may rebut the presumption of classwide reliance recognized in Basic Inc. v. Levinson by pointing to the generic nature of the alleged misstatements in showing that the statements had no impact on the price of the security, even though that evidence is also relevant to the substantive...
Apr 02, 2021•19 min
On March 31, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in NCAA v. Alston. The question before the court was Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit erroneously held, in conflict with decisions of other circuits and general antitrust principles, that the National Collegiate Athletic Association eligibility rules regarding compensation of student-athletes violate federal antitrust law. Hon. Joshua D. Wright, professor and Executive Director of the Global Antitrust Institute at Anton...
Apr 02, 2021•19 min
On March 25, 2021, the Supreme Court decided Torres v. Madrid. This case arises out of an incident Roxanne Torres had with police officers in which she was operating a vehicle under the influence of methamphetamine and in the process of trying to get away, endangered the two officers pursuing her. In the process, one of the officers shot and injured her. Torres pleaded no contest to three crimes: (1) aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer, (2) assault on a police officer, and (3) unla...
Apr 01, 2021•13 min
On March 24, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral arguement in Caniglia v. Strom. The question before the court was whether the “community caretaking” exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement extends to the home. Robert Frommer, Senior Attorney at the Institute for Justice, joins us today to discuss this case's oral argument.
Mar 29, 2021•19 min
On March 23, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in United States v. Cooley. The question before the court was the lower courts erred in suppressing evidence on the theory that a police officer of an Indian tribe lacked authority to temporarily detain and search the respondent, Joshua James Cooley, a non-Indian, on a public right-of-way within a reservation based on a potential violation of state or federal law. Anthony Ferate, Of Counsel at Spencer Fane LLP, joins us today to discuss thi...
Mar 26, 2021•20 min
On March 22, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid. The question before the Court was whether the uncompensated appropriation of an easement that is limited in time effects a per se physical taking under the Fifth Amendment. Wen Fa, attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, joins us today to discuss this case's oral argument.
Mar 25, 2021•17 min
On March 3, 2021, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Carr v. Saul. The question before the Court was whether a claimant seeking disability benefits under the Social Security Act forfeits an Appointments Clause challenge to the appointment of an administrative law judge by failing to present that challenge during administrative proceedings. Jennifer L. Mascott, Assistant Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, and Richard Pierce, Lyle T. Alverson Professor...
Mar 10, 2021•22 min
On March 2, 2021 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee. The questions before the court were: first, whether Arizona’s out-of-precinct policy, which does not count provisional ballots cast in person on Election Day outside of the voter’s designated precinct, violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; and, second, whether Arizona’s ballot-collection law, which permits only certain persons (i.e., family and household members, caregive...
Mar 09, 2021•19 min
On February 3, 2021, the Supreme Court decided Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp. The court also issued a one-sentence opinion vacating a lower-court ruling in Republic of Hungary v. Simon, a similar lawsuit brought by Holocaust survivors seeking compensation for Hungary’s confiscation of Jewish property. The justices sent Hungary v. Simon back to the lower courts for further proceedings in light of the opinion in Germany v. Philipp. Germany v. Phillip arises out of lawsuit brought by...
Mar 08, 2021•15 min
