Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (decided June 1, 1925): striking down Oregon statute requiring all children to go to public school as infringing liberty right of parents to decide how to educate their children, and property right of Catholic school plaintiff which would lose business Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (decided June 1, 1931): This important case struck down on First Amendment (Fourteenth) grounds statute allowing state to enjoin newspaper publishing of

Maul v. United States, 274 U.S. 501 (decided May 31, 1927): vessel without proper registration properly seized by Coast Guard 34 miles offshore because statute restricting jurisdiction to 4 leagues (about 14 miles) applied only to searches, not seizures (does this mean the Coast Guard can seize a ship off coast of Zanzibar as well as Connecticut?) United States v. Louisiana, 363 U.S. 1 (decided May 31, 1960): United States sued the Gulf states under Court’s original jurisdict

BNSF Ry. Co. v. Tyrrell, 581 U.S. 402 (decided May 30, 2017): railroad could be sued in state where it was neither based nor incorporated nor where accident happened (IOW, under general “doing business” jurisdiction as allowed by state statute) despite Daimler AG v. Bauman, 2014, Jan. 14, which held that “doing business” jurisdiction violated due process; 45 U.S.C. §56 allows suit against railroads in any “doing business” state which is only a venue and not a jurisdictional p

Ledbetter v. Goodyear, 550 U.S. 618 (decided May 29, 2007): Title VII lawsuit as to sexual discrimination in employment (after 18 years plaintiff found that she was getting paid less than newly hired men in the same division) must be brought according to statutory language within 180 days of every act of unequal payment (i.e., she would have to file a new claim every 180 days and no past discrimination counts) (wording of statute changed to fix this result in January 2009 by

Home Depot U.S.A. v. Jackson, 587 U.S. 435 (decided May 28, 2019): new party sued in third party class action can’t remove case to federal court because statute allowing any class action to be removed can be invoked only by original defendant Hoffman v. United States, 341 U.S. 479 (decided May 28, 1951): witness can “take the Fifth” before a grand jury even as to general questions about his background, occupation, etc. if he has a long criminal record and has been publicly as

Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 (decided May 27, 1935) (the “sick chicken case”): invalidated many provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act (which allowed the Executive Branch to issue regulations as to sale of chickens, and as to wages, prices) as improper delegation of Congressional power, and outside Congress’s authority anyway because Commerce Clause power did not extend to effects on interstate commerce which were only indirect San Antoni

United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (decided May 26, 1987): upholding Constitutionality of Bail Reform Act of 1984 which requires denial of bail if after a hearing the court determines that release would be a danger to the community (traditionally the purpose of bail is only to ensure attendance at hearings and trial) Kellogg Brown & Root Services v. United States, 575 U.S. 650 (decided May 26, 2015): qui tam (“private attorney general”) action against contractors who alle

Choteau v. Burnet, 283 U.S. 691 (decided May 25, 1931): status as Native American does not excuse obligation to pay income tax on amounts received from tribe’s oil and gas leases Griffin v. School Board of Prince Edward County, 377 U.S. 218 (decided May 25, 1964): district couldn’t avoid desegregation order by closing all schools and using $ for vouchers to all-white private schools Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. 651 (decided May 25, 2023): home renovation backfilling not precluded

In re Shipp, 214 U.S. 386 (verdict rendered May 24, 1909): Only once has there been a criminal trial in the Supreme Court and this was it. The Court had stayed proceedings as to a jailed black murder defendant until appeals could be heard. Defendants, local law enforcement personnel, had violated the Court’s order by letting (or helping) a mob carry off the prisoner and lynch him. So the trial for contempt was in the court which had issued the stay order -- the Supreme Cou

Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (decided May 23, 1991): Congress can prohibit family planning agencies receiving federal funds from mentioning abortion either in publications or in individual counseling (this was a plot point in the 1992 movie “Just Another Girl on the IRT”) Foster v. Chatman, 578 U.S. 488 (decided May 23, 2016): Batson objection to use of peremptory challenges to exclude the only black prospective jurors can be revived upon discovery of documents in prosecuti

TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group, 581 U.S. 258 (decided May 22, 2017): patent suit must be brought in defendant’s state of incorporation under patent venue statute (28 U.S.C. §1400(b)) despite later revision of general venue statute (§1391) with broader language Cooper v. Harris, 581 U.S. 285 (decided May 22, 2017): deferring to District Court’s factual determination rejecting North Carolina’s redistricting (no reason was shown for increasing percentage of black voters i

Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (decided May 21, 2007): mere allegation of parallel conduct insufficient to state an antitrust claim by subscribers against local telephone companies created in the wake of the antitrust breakup of AT&T May v. New Orleans, 178 U.S. 496 (decided May 21, 1900): when imported bulk goods were opened and sold as separate packages (here, towels, embroideries) they were no longer “imports” and therefore City’s tax assessment was not unconstitut

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht, 587 U.S. 299 (decided May 20, 2019): drug manufacturer liable under state law failure to warn theory (osteoporosis drug causing unusual femoral fracture); no clear evidence that FDA had rejected its proposal to add the warning to the label (this is a recognized defense to failure to warn claims) Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (decided May 20, 1996): Colorado amended its constitution to prohibit any law protecting gay people from discrimina

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht, 587 U.S. 299 (decided May 20, 2019): drug manufacturer liable under state law failure to warn theory (osteoporosis drug causing unusual femoral fracture); no clear evidence that FDA had rejected its proposal to add the warning to the label (this is a recognized defense to failure to warn claims) Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (decided May 20, 1996): Colorado amended its constitution to prohibit any law protecting gay people from discrimina

In re Whittington, 391 U.S. 341 (decided May 19, 1968): judge’s ruling of juvenile as “delinquent” and therefore commitable to institution remanded to state court for re-evaluation with Fourteenth Amendment protections (privilege against self-incrimination, etc.) Petrella v. MGM, 572 U.S. 663 (decided May 19, 2014): widow of co-writer of “Raging Bull” entitled to damages for copyright violation despite passage of 18 years since first alleged violation but entitled to only the

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (decided May 18, 1896): the infamous “separate but equal” decision: segregated train cars are not denial of Equal Protection; black people were not denied transportation because they had their own cars (Harlan, in dissent, famously decries “the damage this day done”; also says that the white race would always dominate, which my Con Law professor took as a declaration of racism; a more insightful person would see it as a way to mitigate the sho

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (decided May 17, 1954): “separate is inherently unequal”, invalidating on Equal Protection grounds school segregation by race (this applies only to schools within the same district, and could not invalidate “white flight” into other districts or into private schools); unanimous decision, though it was almost 8 - 1 because Jackson’s law clerk (William Rehnquist) was telling him to vote the other way (as my Con Law professor p

California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (decided May 16, 1988): police can search garbage left out by the curb without a warrant Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Hillmon, 145 U.S. 285 (decided May 16, 1892): This decision endorsed a new rule of evidence, the hearsay exception for future intention. Sallie Hillmon tried to collect on life insurance policies, claiming that her husband had died by accidental gunshot at Crooked Creek, Kansas in 1879. Was the deceased John Hillmon or one Fre

United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (decided May 15, 1939): Second Amendment guarantees only right to keep and bear arms in “reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia”. Contains long discussion of Articles of Confederation period, such as sentiment in favor of militias so as to obviate creation of a standing army and militia possession and training requirements states placed on males. The sawed-off shotgun at issue was not reas

Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677 (decided May 14, 1973): gender is a “suspect class” so any discrimination is subject to “strict scrutiny” (Air Force treated married males and married females differently as to housing and medical benefits) Major League Baseball Players Ass’n v. Garvey, 532 U.S. 504 (decided May 14, 2001): The Padres did not offer Steve Garvey a contract extension for 1988 and 1989. He demanded arbitration per the MLB agreement, alleging collusion with o