United States v. Morrison, 429 U.S. 1 (decided October 12, 1976): After conviction based on marijuana found in car, the Circuit Court (in another case) created an exclusionary rule which was retrospective; defendant demanded a hearing which resulted in suppression of the evidence and vacating the conviction. Here, the Court holds that Double Jeopardy does not bar Government from appealing the suppression finding, because if the appeal is successful, it merely means the guil

Arlington County Board v. Richards, 434 U.S. 5 (decided October 11, 1977): town can restrict on-street parking to residents and their guests; “rational basis” survives Equal Protection attack (at first I got this confused with the Arlington zoning case from the same year, but this case wasn’t about race; issue was avoiding congestion and pollution) Ex parte Levitt, 302 U.S. 633 (decided October 11, 1937): the Senate had just voted to provide Supreme Court Justices with pensio

Lucy v. Adams, 350 U.S. 1 (decided October 10, 1955): Court reinstates injunction, meaning University of Alabama can’t deny two black students admission; District Court had found that sole basis for denying entry was skin color; Ms. Lucy had been trying for three years to get in; she was still excluded from dorms and dining halls; riot broke out when she actually showed up and, being pelted with bricks and eggs and death threats, she was suspended for her own safety; Universi

Pilon v. Bordenkircher, 444 U.S. 1 (decided October 9, 1979): Court, relying on its own recent precedent, reverses the denial of habeas and remands back to District Court; after state court conviction for manslaughter, lower court applied former standard for violation of Due Process (reversing only if there is “no evidence in support of conviction”); new, more defendant-friendly standard is whether if “after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution,

Nebraska v. Wyoming et al., 325 U.S. 665 (decided October 8, 1945): Original jurisdiction case where the Court confirms the Special Master’s finding that Colorado and Wyoming divert too much of the North Platte River before it gets into Nebraska. From the finding, which is detailed as to how much can be diverted when and from where, and how it is to be measured, one can see that the Special Master was bombarded with a mountain of geological and environmental evidence. Roth v.

Doe v. Gonzalez, 546 U.S. 1301 (decided October 7, 2005): Ginsburg denies emergency stay because appeal in Second Circuit is being expedited, but grants motion to file briefs under seal; discusses the case at length; librarian contested FBI order to disclose browsing history associated with a certain IP address which also ordered him not to reveal order or reveal his identity; issue was whether this prior restraint (authorized by statute) violated First Amendment; identity ha

Lopez v. Smith, 574 U.S. 1 (decided October 6, 2014): Court grants cert and upholds state murder conviction where prosecution switched theories at end of trial (defendant aided and abetted murder of wife instead of directly wielding metal bar that killed her); Ninth Circuit had relied on its own precedent, which prohibited such practices, in granting habeas, but 1996 statute restricting habeas only to where state court misapplied federal law refers only to federal law establi

Maryland v. Kulbicki, 136 S.Ct. 2 (decided October 5, 2015): dismisses ineffective assistance of counsel claim; method of comparing lead in bullets in defendant’s truck vs. in victim’s brain relied on by prosecution was later discredited but was still state of the art at time of trial and as such could not have been attacked

Buntion v. Lumpkin,142 S.Ct. 3 (decided October 4, 2021): stay of execution denied; Breyer doesn’t dissent but notes the “serious legal and practical problem with the death penalty as it is currently administered”; in 1890 the Court said waiting on death row for even four weeks was “one of the more horrible feelings to which a person can be subjected”, and Buntion had been on death row for 30 years, which is in itself cruel and unusual punishment (Buntion, age 78 and infirm,

Clark v. Hancock, 94 U.S. 493 (decided October 3, 1876): Court can dismiss a non-jurisdictional case without having to wait for the return date (Waite points out that petitioner admitted there was no federal issue and relied on prior practice where one had to wait for the return date -- what was the point? what did petitioner’s attorney want? was there oral argument on such motions in those days? he knew he would get a chilly reception -- maybe just so he could say he had be

Matter of Disbarment of Maddox, 516 U.S. 802 (decided October 2, 1995): I’m an obscure, unsuccessful lawyer and former crisis center director who has never rubbed shoulders with anyone who touched the Court, with this one (literal) exception. In 1987 Alton Maddox was one of the trio of people (with fellow lawyer C. Vernon Mason, and Al Sharpton) who represented a black teenager named Tawana Brawley, who allegedly was gang raped by white police officers in a small town near m

United States v. Peck, 102 U.S. 64 (decided October 1, 1880): parol evidence (i.e., evidence outside the four corners of the contract) admissible to show that contract for providing wood and hay to army contemplated that hay would be cut in the area (supplier was unable to do that; government had others provide it from far away and charged him for the extra expense) United States v. Carll, 105 U.S. 611 (decided October 1, 1881): can’t convict someone passing a counterfeit cur

Lux v. Rodrigues, 561 U.S. 1306 (decided September 30, 2010): Roberts denies injunction requiring Virginia election officials to count Congressional candidate’s signatures; signatures had been held invalid because of statute requiring witness to signatures to be from same Congressional District as signers; statute would likely withstand scrutiny even in light of recent case law striking down various petition restrictions (Roberts was proven wrong; the Fourth Circuit remanded

Smith v. Richey, 89 S.Ct. 54 (decided September 29, 1968): Challenge to callup to active duty as violating the Ready Reserve Act, for which Douglas notes there are “substantial and unresolved questions”. Smith was to be sent the next day “to the Asian theater”; Douglas “hesitates to act” but since the Ninth Circuit had denied a stay, Douglas grants it, keeping the soldier at Hamilton Air Force Base. (Not known what happened later, but Ready Reserve Act, a/k/a Military Selec

Collins v. Virginia, 138 S.Ct. 53 (decided September 28, 2017): grants cert on case involving automobile exception to the warrant requirement; full Court later reversed the Virginia Supreme Court, 584 U.S. 586 (2018), holding that motorcycle involved in speeding incident which could be seen through top of a partially enclosed driveway was in the “curtilage” of house and therefore warrant needed (see May 29)

Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd., 564 U.S. 1066 (decided September 27, 2011): cert due to Circuit Court split of authority; Court subsequently held that “compensation to interpreters” recoupable by winner as part of “costs” (28 U.S.C. §1920) did not include expense of translating documents, 566 U.S. 560, 2012 (Mariana Islands resort had won summary judgment against Japanese baseball player who fell through wooden deck; resort wanted to tax the expense of translating Japa

Matter of Disbarment of Mosely, 512 U.S. 1284 (decided September 26, 1994): Municipal judge convicted of extorting kickbacks from contractors, 810 F.2d 93 (though unlike the one time a judge shook me down, none of those victims was a broken, disabled man threatened with prison). He became a minister, and his web page mentions his criminal history, https://lawsoflifecourttv.com/fred-m-mosely-testimony, though he seems to stress being rejected by his peers (awww . . . ) and tr

Tennant v. Jefferson County Comm’n, 567 U.S. 758 (decided September 25, 2012): Court approves West Virginia Legislature’s final reapportionment plan of its three Congressional seats. Sshort decision describes how the Court decides whether a redistricting comports with “one person, one vote”: looks at population differential (not dispositive; one rejected plan had a differential of only one person between smallest and largest districts); incumbents forced into same district;

Twentieth Century Airlines v. Ryan, 74 S.Ct. 8 (decided September 24, 1953): Reed refuses to stay administrative proceedings against “irregular” air carriers who had been ordered to stop mergers and refinancings because done without Civil Aeronautics Board approval; no irreparable injury shown and administrative proceedings afforded them adequate due process Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. Scott, 561 U.S. 1301 (decided September 24, 2010): Scalia stays enforcement of class action

Katzenbach v. McClung, 85 S.Ct. 6 (decided September 23, 1964): Black lifts injunction against enforcement of Civil Rights Act against restaurant that denied service to blacks (not Black; presumably they’d let him in because he was white) (not White) (as we know, the full Court later ruled that the restaurant was in violation, 379 U.S. 294) Winters v. United States, 89 S.Ct. 34 (decided September 23, 1968): Harlan refuses to stay Marine’s transfer to Vietnam pending determina