Arguments Oct_02_2018 The Court heard arguments in two cases on Tuesday: Gundy v. United States and Madison v. Alabama. In Gundy, the Court was asked to consider whether the non-delegation doctrine (which says that Congress cannot hand its legislative powers to agencies) is violated by the federal Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act’s (SORNA) delegation … Continue reading October 2 Arguments: Delegation and Dementia
Even with most courtwatchers’ eyes on the Kavanaugh nomination, the Supreme Court heard arguments this past week. On Monday, October 1, the first day of the Term, the Court first heard argument in Mount Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido an age discrimination case, addressing the narrow issue of whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act … Continue reading October 1 Arguments: Dusky Gopher Frog Goes to Court
The Supreme Court’s October 2018 Term began Monday with an 8-Justice Court. The Court heard oral argument in six cases during this first week of the Term.: Weyerhaeuser Co v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: a case about critical habitat designations to private land under the Endangered Species Act. Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido: … Continue reading First Week of OT 2018
Although all eyes have been on the Kavanaugh nomination, the Supreme Court has continued to go about its business. It will have its first day of oral arguments on Monday, October 1. (For an in-depth review of the upcoming Term, listen to this National Constitution Center podcast.) And last week, the Court announced that it … Continue reading New Cert Grants from SCOTUS
During Justice Kennedy’s last weeks at the Supreme Court, the Court decided a number of important cases, many of them 5-4. We’ve already posted about many of them, including the partisan gerrymandering cases, Janus v. AFSCME (the big union fees case), and the internet taxation case. We’ll post about the rest over the next few … Continue reading End of the 2017-18 Term: Race and Redistricting
On the last day of the term, the Supreme Court issued one of the most anticipated decisions of recent years, Janus v. AFSCME. As widely expected, a five-justice majority overturned Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977) and held that unions could not require public-sector employees to pay “agency fees” that would be used to … Continue reading Unions and Free Speech—The Janus Decision
In addition to Wayfair, (discussed here) the Supreme Court issued a second tax opinion on the same day in Wisconsin Central, Ltd. v. United States. Although the case is about interpreting a federal statute, the Railroad Retirement Tax Act of 1937 (RRTA), Wisconsin Central made headlines in the cryptocurrency community because Justice Breyer used the … Continue reading Opinions: Bitcoin, Officers, and Appropriate Notice
On Thursday, June 21, the Court released its opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., one of two cases decided last month in which the Court reversed its own precedent. (The second case was Janus v. AFSCME.) Wayfair is a case with important tax ramifications for both consumers and online retailers, as it involved a … Continue reading Opinions: Internet Taxation
In a decision issued the same day as the partisan gerrymandering opinions, the Supreme Court ruled in Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach. This is the second opinion the Court has issued involving Fane Lozman and the City of Riviera Beach — and the lawsuits are related but independent of each other. In 2013, Lozman … Continue reading Opinions: Repeat Litigants at the Court and Sentencing Guidelines
The Court issued opinions in its two partisan gerrymandering cases — Gill v. Whitford and Benisek v. Lamone — on the same day near the end of the Term. Although these decisions were highly anticipated, the opinions themselves shed virtually no new light on either the justiciability of partisan gerrymandering claims or on the standard … Continue reading Opinions: Partisan Gerrymandering – Still Unresolved