American Constitutional Law

 

 

 

 

 

[holding] Federal statute banning possession of handgun with serial number removed upheld against Second Amendment challenge.

Tolentino v. New York, 563 U. S. ___ (2011) (per curiam)

R033; No. 09-11556; 3/29/11.  Certiorari dismissed as improvidently granted.

 

Astra USA, Inc. v. Santa Clara County, 563 U. S. ___ (2011)

R032; No. 09-1273; 3/29/11.  Where §340B of the Public Health Services Act imposes ceilings on prices drug manufacturers may charge for medications sold to specified health care facilities, those facilities may not sue allegedly overcharging manufacturers as third-party beneficiaries of the ceiling-price contracts, which run between the drug manufacturers and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

 

Connick v. Thompson, 563 U. S. ___ (2011)

R031; No. 09-571; 3/29/11.  A district attorney’s office may not be held liable under 42 U. S. C. §1983 for failure to train its prosecutors based on a single violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U. S. 83.

 

Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano, 563 U. S. ___ (2011)

R030; No. 09-1156; 3/22/11.  Respondents stated a claim in this securities fraud action, when they alleged that petitioners violated §10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b–5 by failing to disclose reports of a possible link between the company ‘s Zicam Cold Remedy and loss of smell (anosmia), rendering statements made by them misleading.

 

Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 563 U. S. 1 (2011)

R029; No. 09-834; 3/22/11.  In an antiretaliation suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which forbids employers “to discharge . . . any employee because such employee has filed any complaint” alleging a violation of the Act, 29 U. S. C. §215(a)(3), the scope of statutory term “filed any complaint” includes oral, as well as written, complaints.

Felkner v. Jackson, 562 U. S. ___ (2011) (per curiam)

R028; No. 10-797; 3/21/11.  Because the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 imposes a highly deferential standard for federal habeas review of state-court decisions, there was no basis for the Ninth Circuit to reach a conclusion opposite the one reached by the state trial court, which credited the prosecutor’s race-neutral explanations for dismissing two of three African-American jurors, and by the California Court of Appeal, which carefully reviewed the record in upholding the trial court’s findings.

Milner v. Department of Navy, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)R027; No. 09-1163; 3/7/11.  Explosives maps and data requested from respondent are not materials exempt from release under Freedom of Information Act Exemption 2, which encompasses only records relating to employee relations and human resources issues.

Wall v. Kholi, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)R026; No. 09-868; 3/7/11.  In determining whether a motion is “a properly filed application for . . . collateral review,” 28 U. S. C. §2244(d)(2), that tolls the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996’s 1-year filing period for federal habeas claims, the phrase “collateral review” means judicial review of a judgment in a proceeding that is not part of direct review; the motion to reduce sentence under Rhode Island law that was filed here is an application for “collateral review” under §2244(d)(2).

Skinner v. Switzer, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R025; No. 09-9000; 3/7/11.  A convicted state prisoner seeking DNA testing of crime-scene evidence may assert that claim in a 42 U. S. C. §1983 civil rights action.

Pepper v. United States, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R024; No. 09-6822; 3/2/11.  When a defendant’s sentence has been set aside on appeal, a district court at resentencing may consider evidence of the defendant’s postsentencing rehabilitation, and such evidence may support a downward variance from the now-advisory Federal Sentencing Guidelines range; because the Eighth Circuit had set aside Pepper’s entire sentence and remanded for de novo resentencing, the District Court was not bound by the law of the case doctrine to apply the same 40 percent departure applied by the original sentencing judge.

Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R023; No. 09-751; 3/2/11.  The First Amendment shields respondents (Westboro) from tort liability for picketing near a soldier’s funeral service to express Westboro’s views on the United States’ tolerance of homosexuality, particularly in America’s military, and on clergy scandals in the Catholic Church.

Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R022; No. 09-1036; 3/1/11.  The deadline for filing a notice of appeal with the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims does not have jurisdictional consequences.

Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R021; No. 09-400; 3/1/11.  If a supervisor performs an act motivated by antimilitary animus that is intended by the supervisor to cause an adverse employment action, and if that act is a proximate cause of the ultimate employment action, then the employer is liable under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

FCC v. AT&T Inc., 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R020; No. 09-1279; 3/1/11.  Corporations do not have “personal privacy” for the purposes of Exemption 7(C) of the Freedom of Information Act.

Michigan v. Bryant, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R019; No. 09-150; 2/28/11. The victim’s identification and description of the shooter and the location of the shooting were not testimonial statements here, because they had a “primary purpose  . . . to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency,” Davis v. Washington, 547 U. S. 813, 822; thus, their admission at Bryant’s trial did not violate the Confrontation Clause.

Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc., 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R018; No. 08-1314; 2/23/11.  Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 does not pre-empt state tort suits claiming that manufacturers should have installed lap-and-shoulder belts, instead of lap belts, on rear inner seats of passenger vehicles.

Walker v. Martin, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R017; No. 09-996; 2/23/11.  California’s time limitation on applications for habeas corpus relief qualifies as an independent state ground adequate to bar habeas relief in federal court.

CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Alabama Dept. of Revenue, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R016; No. 09-520; 2/22/11.  CSX may invoke the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to challenge Alabama’s sales and use taxes as discriminatory.

Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R015; No. 09-152; 2/22/11.  The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 pre-empts all design-defect claims against vaccine manufacturers brought by plaintiffs seeking compensation for injury or death caused by a vaccine’s side effects.

Swarthout v. Cooke, 562 U. S. ___ (2011) (per curiam)

R014; No. 10-333; 1/24/11. The Ninth Circuit erred in granting habeas relief based on its conclusion that the California courts had misapplied the State’s “some evidence” rule in determining respondents’ suitability for parole.

Chase Bank USA, N. A. v. McCoy, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R013; No. 09-329; 1/24/11. At the time of the transactions at issue, the Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation Z did not require Chase to notify McCoy of an interest-rate increase instituted pursuant to their credit card agreement, which permitted Chase to raise the interest rate, up to a pre-set maximum, following delinquency or default.

Ortiz v. Jordan, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R012; No. 09-737; 1/21/11. A party may not appeal a denial of summary judgment after a federal district court has conducted a full trial on the merits.

Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R011; No. 09-291; 1/24/11. If respondent fired Thompson to retaliate against his fiancée for filing an employment discrimination charge against respondent, Thompson’s firing constituted unlawful retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title VII grants Thompson a cause of action.

NASA v. Nelson, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R010; No. 09-530; 1/19/11.  Assuming, without deciding, that the Government’s inquiries in this case implicate a privacy interest of constitutional significance, that interest, whatever its scope, does not prevent the Government from asking reasonable questions in an employment background investigation that is subject to the Privacy Act’s safeguards against public disclosure.

Premo v. Moore, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R009; No. 09-658; 1/19/11.  Moore was not entitled to habeas relief based on his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.

Harrington v. Richter, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R008; No. 09-587; 1/19/11.  Title 28 U. S. C. §2254(d) —which limits federal habeas relief for claims previously “adjudicated on the merits” in state court—applies to Richter’s petition, even though the California Supreme Court issued only a summary denial; Richter was not entitled to habeas relief based on an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.

Ransom v. FIA Card Services, N. A., 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R007; No. 09-907; 1/11/11.  A debtor under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code may not deduct car-ownership costs from his disposable income if he is not making loan or lease payments.

Mayo Foundation for Medical Ed. and Research v. United States, 562 U. S. ___ (2011)

R006; No. 09-837; 1/11/11.  The Treasury Department’s full-time employee rule—which does not categorize medical residents as students exempt from Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes—is a reasonable construction of 26 U. S. C. §3121(b)(10).

Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation of N. Y., 562 U. S. ___ (2011) (per curiam)

R005; No. 10-72; 1/10/11.   The judgment is vacated and the case is remanded for the Second Circuit to address whether to revisit its ruling in light of respondent’s recently passed declaration and ordinance waiving tribal sovereign immunity to enforcement of real property taxation through foreclosure by state, county, and local governments.

Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega, S. A., 562 U. S. ___ (2010) (per curiam)

R004; No. 08-1423; 12/13/10.   Judgment affirmed by equally divided Court.

Los Angeles County v. Humpries, 562 U. S. ___ (2010)

R003; No. 09-350; 11/30/10.  The requirement making municipalities liable under 42 U. S. C. §1983 only “when execution of [their] policy or custom . . . inflicts the injury,” Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U. S. 658, 694, applies irrespective of whether the relief sought is monetary or prospective.

Abbott v. United States, 562 U. S. ___ (2010)

R002; No. 09-479; 11/15/10.  A defendant is subject to the highest mandatory minimum specified for his conduct in 18 U. S. C. §924(c)—which makes it an offense to use, carry, or possess a deadly weapon in connection with a violent or drug-trafficking crime—unless another provision of law directed to conduct proscribed by §924(c) imposes an even greater mandatory minimum.

Wilson v. Corcoran, 562 U. S. 1 (2010) (per curiam)

R001; No. 10-91; 11/8/10.  A federal court may issue a writ of habeas corpus to a state prisoner only for a violation of federal law; thus, the Seventh Circuit erred in granting the writ to respondent for a violation of state law.