Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius , 568 U.S. 1401 (decided December 26, 2012): Sotomayor denies stay of enforcement of Affordable Care Act because claimed Free Exercise Clause/Religious Freedom Restoration Act violation was not “indisputably clear” (as we know, the Court later held that there was indeed a Free Exercise/RFRA violation, sub nom. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. , June 30)

Liverpool & London & Globe Ins. Co. v. Gunther , 116 U.S. 113 (decided December 25, 1885) (was this case really “filed” on December 25, as Westlaw has it?): No, this case did not concern Scrooge’s raise to Bob Cratchit being in violation of some wage/price control (actually that was on December 26).  A boring matter, expenses of a suit and trustees of a railroad, but the only December 25 case I could find. A Merry Christmas to all to those for whom it has meaning, and also t

Missouri Kansas & Texas Ry. Co. of Texas v. Ferris , 179 U.S. 602 (decided December 24, 1900): no federal question presented by Texas statute providing that refusal to answer at deposition is not an admission as to a corporate party (this was a civil case, wrongful death) Gatewood v. North Carolina , 203 U.S. 531 (decided December 24, 1906): nominal stock exchange where no stocks were actually bought or sold (instead, members were awarded difference between sale price and mar

International News Service v. Associated Press , 248 U.S. 215 (decided December 23, 1918): wire services can’t steal stories from one another (the Court, creating pre- Erie  “federal common law”, held that this was common law misappropriation of property; such a tort in this context has been preempted by the Copyright Act of 1976, see 650 F.3d 876) Singer Mfg. Co. v. Rahn , 132 U.S. 518 (decided December 23, 1889): sewing machine salesman was agent of employer (even though wo

Memphis & L. R.R. Co. v. Berry , 112 U.S. 609 (decided December 22, 1884): tax break given to railroad company formed by act of legislature does not extend to company which purchased it Blumenthal v. United States , 332 U.S. 539 (decided December 22, 1947): conspiracy prosecution doesn’t have to identify all conspirators (conspiracy here was to sell whiskey at prices above ceiling set under Emergency Price Control Act of 1942); “secrecy and concealment are essential features

Oregon v. Mitchell , 400 U.S. 112 (decided December 21, 1970): original jurisdiction case; Congress can set voting age requirements for federal elections but not state or local elections (quickly abrogated by Twenty-Sixth Amendment which set national voting age of 18) Baltimore City Dept. of Social Services v. Bouknight , 488 U.S. 1301 (decided December 21, 1988): Granting stay of Court of Appeals order holding that mother properly invoked self-incrimination privilege when re

United States v. Marion , 404 U.S. 307 (decided December 20, 1971): speedy trial requirement (Sixth Amendment) is not triggered until arrest (here, for business fraud, where prosecutors waited three years before arresting); the accused (or rather, future accused) is still protected by the statute of limitations Craig v. Boren , 429 U.S. 190 (decided December 20, 1976): denial of Equal Protection when Oklahoma men held to higher drinking age (21) than women (18) (opinion also

Sorrells v. United States , 287 U.S. 435 (decided December 19, 1932): defendant accused of liquor sale (during Prohibition) can assert entrapment defense (agent who served in same division during World War I visited with some mutual friends and drew him into a long chat about their wartime experiences, casually asked for liquor, and after third request defendant left and returned twenty minutes later with a bottle and agent paid him $5 -- aha!! you’re under arrest!) Hunt v. S

Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland, Ohio , 409 U.S. 249 (decided December 18, 1972): simply because airplane crashed into navigable water does not create admiralty jurisdiction; claim has to be related to maritime activities (upon takeoff plane ran into flock of seagulls which clogged the engines and plane sank in Lake Erie, though crew survived; allegedly the air traffic controller should not have ok’d the takeoff) (if it was the seagulls’ next of kin bringing

Illinois Central R.R. Co. v. McKendree , 203 U.S. 514 (decided December 17, 1906): Secretary of Agriculture can’t make a regulation (here, a “quarantine line” from California to Maryland to control cattle infection) that affects interstate commerce without specific Congressional authority NLRB v. Saviar Mfg. Co. , 245 U.S. 359 (decided December 17, 1973): certification of union voided where before certification election the union promised that anyone who voted for certificati

Greene v. Georgia , 519 U.S. 145 (decided December 16, 1996): state Supreme Court on direct appeal does not have to defer to trial judge’s findings as to juror bias (trial judge had excused for cause jurors who had reservations about the death penalty); such deference (set forth in Wainwright v. Witt , 1985) applies only in habeas proceedings (where at issue is matter outside the record -- questions which should have been asked, things that should have been done, evidence whi

Heien v. North Carolina , 574 U.S. 54 (decided December 15, 2014): police can stop you for something they think is illegal but actually isn’t (here, broken brake light, not an offense under state law which requires only one working light; upon consensual search of car they found cocaine) Altria Group v. Good , 555 U.S. 70 (decided December 15, 2008): Maine statute prohibiting false advertising as to cigarettes (one brand falsely claimed less “tar” and nicotine than another) n

Katzenback v. McClung , 379 U.S. 294 and Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States , 379 U.S. 241 (both decided December 14, 1964): Congress had Commerce Clause power to prohibit racial discrimination in restaurants ( Katzenbach ) and public accommodations ( Heart of Atlanta Motel ) because interstate commerce involved Texas v. New Mexico , 592 U.S. 98 (decided December 14, 2020): another original jurisdiction case involving water rights; here, the Court gives New Mexico credit

United States v. Wheeler , 254 U.S. 281 (decided December 13, 1920): Constitutional right to travel (implied in art. IV, §2) does not apply to state action (quashing indictment of Arizona sheriff who rounded up 1300 striking miners and sent them in cattle cars without supplies to New Mexico and threatened them with death if they returned to Arizona) (in effect overruled by United States v. Guest , 1966) White v. United States , 154 U.S. 661 (decided December 13, 1880): owner

Bush v. Gore , 531 U.S. 98 (decided December 12, 2000): Stopped the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court (though the Court had already stayed it), citing Equal Protection violation; hard to summarize this “don’t ever cite us for this!” decision so I won’t try (Westlaw lists 110 cases giving this case “negative treatment”, courts on all levels except the Supreme Court itself of course). Note: Maybe due to the rushed briefing this wasn’t brought out, but this decision s

Texas v. Pennsylvania , 141 S.Ct. 1230 (decided December 11, 2020): Texas has no standing to contest how other states conduct their elections (the Constitutional objection argued appears to be that Trump actually won) Carey v. Musladin , 549 U.S. 70 (decided December 11, 2006): fact that judge allowed murder victim’s family to sit in front row at trial wearing buttons with victim’s photo did not entitle defendant to habeas relief (because allowing this was not contrary to “cl

Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson , 595 U.S. 30 (decided December 10, 2021): suit against abortion “bounty hunter” statute (Texas S. 8, see Sept. 1) can proceed against state health officials having collateral authority over abortion services but not against judges and clerks who put S. 8 cases on dockets (Sotomayor’s argument in dissent, that such a statute can in effect prevent the exercise of any explicitly recognized Constitutional right, survives Dobbs ) McConnell v. Feder

MacMath v. United States , 248 U.S. 151 (decided December 9, 1918): clerk employed as “acting U.S. weigher” at collection port not entitled to $2,500 statutory salary assigned to weighers (collection ports were notoriously a gold mine of booty, but I suppose not for lowly weighers, “acting” or otherwise) Warger v. Shauers , 574 U.S. 40 (decided December 9, 2014): under Fed. R. Evid. 606(b), juror cannot testify, and court cannot receive affidavit, as to statements during deli

Chew Heong v. United States , 112 U.S. 536 (decided December 8, 1884): Chinese Exclusion Act (requiring certificate for reentry) did not apply to those who were already in the country, left then returned Shapiro v. McManus , 577 U.S. 39 (decided December 8, 2015): Constitutional challenges to Congressional reapportionments must be referred to three-judge panel (appeal from which is one of the only remaining direct, non-discretionary appeal routes to the Supreme Court, and I t

Campbell v. Holt , 115 U.S. 620 (decided December 7, 1885): new Texas constitution (went into effect after Texas was readmitted into the Union) validly abolished statute of limitations as to suit for value of plantation (which included value added by pre-manumission slaves) Michigan v. Fisher , 558 U.S. 45 (decided December 7, 2009): “emergency aid” exception to warrant requirement applied when man was seen screaming and throwing things in his house even though he pointed a g