Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo , 592 U.S. 14 (decided November 25, 2020): in a 5 - 4 vote, Court grants stay on Free Exercise grounds of Covid-19 executive order limiting church attendance to ten persons in red zones (near my house!) or 25 persons in orange zones; less restrictive alternatives available Yates v. United States , 355 U.S. 66 (decided November 25, 1957): refusal to give names of Communist Party members results in only one conviction for contempt eve

Hotel Employees Local 255 v. Leedom , 358 U.S. 99 (decided November 24, 1958): Court here ends the NLRB’s longstanding hands-off policy as to hotels keeping unions out Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral of Russian Orthodox Church , 344 U.S. 94 (decided November 24, 1952): striking down on Free Exercise grounds New York statute requiring Russian Orthodox churches to have separate in-state corporate status (as opposed to being administratively subject to Patriarch of Moscow); th

Arnold Tours v. Camp , 400 U.S. 45 (decided November 23, 1970): travel agencies had standing to contest Comptroller of Currency’s authority to issue rule allowing national banks to get into the travel agency business (travel agencies won, 472 F.2d 427) Bohlen v. Arthurs , 115 U.S. 482 (decided November 23, 1885): tenant could not cut timber and sell it without consent of co-tenant; co-tenant was allowed to seize timber (diversity action) Beck v. Ohio , 379 U.S. 89 (decided No

Brasfield v. United States , 272 U.S. 448 (decided November 22, 1926): judge can’t ask a jury foreman during deliberations where the vote currently stood (even though he doesn’t ask which side is winning); conviction for violation of Volstead Act (transporting alcohol) reversed Mississippi v. Tennessee , 142 S.Ct. 31 (decided November 22, 2021): in original jurisdiction case, upholds Special Master’s finding; though Tennessee owns all the water under it, it could be equitably

New York, New Haven & Hartford R.R. Co. v. Henagan , 364 U.S. 441 (decided November 21, 1960):  Woman stepped in front of train in attempt to commit suicide; train came to sudden stop and waitress in dining car was injured by the jolt (soft tissue injuries plus “paranoid psychosis”).  The Court affirms judgment for the railroad.  (P.S. Train did not stop in time.) State of Washington v. Kuykendall , 275 U.S. 207 (decided November 21, 1927): towing of logs across Puget Sound m

Osborne v. County of Adams , 106 U.S. 181 (decided November 20, 1882): a steam grist mill is not an “internal improvement” under state statute authorizing county to issue bonds for construction; statute deals only with railroads and related structures (not clear why there’s federal court jurisdiction here; the lower court seemed to say there wasn’t, yet decided the merits anyway, 7 F. 441) O’Neil v. Northern Colorado Irrigation Co. , 242 U.S. 20 (decided November 20, 1916): f

Goudy v. Meath , 203 U.S. 146 (decided November 19, 1906): Congress may exempt land held by Native Americans from taxation before they sell it but didn’t do so here; Congress had declared in 1887 that plaintiff’s tribe were now citizens so he had to pay taxes from that point forward United States v. Cambridge Loan & Building Co. , 278 U.S. 55 (decided November 19, 1928): government was estopped from collecting back taxes even though taxpayer “building and loan association” wa

Ohio v. Robinette , 519 U.S. 33 (decided November 18, 1996): search of car was truly consensual even though police officer didn’t first tell driver he was “free to go” (police asked to search, driver said yes, and drugs were found) Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction v. United States Marshals Service , 474 U.S. 34 (decided November 18, 1985): habeas statute does not allow federal judge to order marshals to bring state prisoners to the courthouse as witnesses; must be by subpoen

Dennis v. Sparks , 449 U.S. 24 (decided November 17, 1980): private parties who allegedly corruptly conspired with judge to deny oil lease in violation of Due Process can still be sued under §1983 even though co-conspirator judge enjoys judicial immunity (echoes of the Watergate convictions, with Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator) Crouch v. United States , 266 U.S. 180 (decided November 17, 1924): Navy war widow (husband had been on The Cyclops, which disappeared at sea i

Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co. v. Mottley , 211 U.S. 149 (decided November 16, 1908): defendant’s assertion of defenses based on federal law does not create federal court jurisdiction (I remember this one from law school; a couple guaranteed lifetime passage on a railroad in consideration of settling a personal injury case sued 35 years later when their tickets were no longer being honored) Hardy v. Harbin , 154 U.S. 598 (decided November 16, 1874): Was John Hardy the same a

The Harrisburg , 119 U.S. 199 (decided November 15, 1886): can’t sue in admiralty for wrongful death because Congress has not provided for it (overruled by Moragne v. States Marine Lines , 1970) Moody v. Daggett , 429 U.S. 78 (decided November 15, 1976): parolee who committed a crime while on parole does not have normal entitlement to immediate parole revocation hearing even though in custody after warrant issued Albertson v. Subversive Activities Control Board , 382 U.S. 70

Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. , 513 U.S. 30 (decided November 14, 1994): Eleventh Amendment did not bar injured railroad workers’ suit in federal court against Port Authority, an entity wholly owned by New York and New Jersey and created under the Interstate Compact Clause (art. I, §10, clause 3); judgment against Port Authority would not be collectible against either state Key v. Doyle , 434 U.S. 59 (decided November 14, 1977): District of Columbia statute restri

United States v. Bormes , 568 U.S. 6 (decided November 13, 2021): dismissing lawyers’ class action alleging Fair Credit Reporting Act violation of privacy (federal court filing receipts display last four digits and expiration date of lawyer’s credit card) because sovereign immunity not waived Ayers v. Belmontes , 549 U.S. 7 (decided November 13, 2006): no error in judge not specifically instructing jury to consider future mitigating circumstances in sentencing (here, that def

Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council , 555 U.S. 7 (decided November 12, 2008): vacating stay of antisubmarine SONAR use by Navy off California shore; strong national security interest and no showing that it actually harms marine mammals (“not a close question”) Barnhart v. Thomas , 540 U.S. 20 (decided November 12, 2003): laid-off elevator operator was properly denied Social Security Disability; though suffering from heart disease, lumbar strain, etc., was still able t

Boylan v. Hot Springs Ry. Co. , 132 U.S. 146 (decided November 11, 1889): passenger properly thrown off train when refusing to pay extra on return trip even though he had paid round trip fare, where ticket (which he hadn’t read) required it be stamped at departing station and he didn’t get it stamped (the language of the ticket, quoted in a footnote, is so extensive that it had to have been “fine print”) Connecticut v. Menillo , 423 U.S. 9 (decided November 11, 1975): upholdi

Ex Parte Crouch , 112 U.S. 178 (decided November 10, 1884): federal courts cannot via habeas vacate state court convictions except on jurisdictional grounds (gradually overruled, most specifically by Brown v. Allen , 1953) Baltimore & O.R. Co. v. Kepner , 314 U.S. 44 (decided November 10, 1941): state court cannot interfere with resident injured railroad employee’s statutorily permitted federal venue of FELA action even if inconvenient for railroad (suit brought 700 miles awa

Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. , 510 U.S. 17 (decided November 9, 1993): Title VII claimant (“abusive work environment”) need not show that her psychological well-being was “seriously affected”; totality of circumstances but still must be “objectively” abusive (ALJ found supervisor made frequent gender insults, sexual innuendos, “You’re a woman, what do you know”, “We need a man as the rental manager”, “you’re a dumb ass woman”, suggested “we go to the Holiday Inn”, asked h

Greene v. Fisher , 565 U.S. 34 (decided November 8, 2011): “clearly established federal law” required for habeas does not include law established by Court in decision announced after state appeals on facts are exhausted United States v. Olson , 546 U.S. 43 (decided November 8, 2005): Federal Tort Claims Act allows only for torts for which state law holds private parties (not governmental entities) liable, and court must determine if state law provides private law analogies fo

Cleveland v. United States , 531 U.S. 12 (decided November 7, 2000): video poker licenses were not “property” so as to be predicate for prosecution under mail fraud statute (defendants had obtained licenses via applications with fraudulently concealed facts) Powell v. Alabama , 287 U.S. 45 (decided November 7, 1932): in one of the earliest Incorporation decisions, Court holds that Sixth Amendment right to counsel was “incorporated” by Fourteenth Amendment and therefore bindin

Weeth v. New England Mortgage Security Co. , 106 U.S. 605 (decided November 6, 1882): the Supreme Court used to have jurisdiction when a “certificate of division” was presented to it, where there was a disagreement between the District Judge and the Circuit Justice (from the Supreme Court); here (in a dispute over loan repayment) certificate rejected because required Court to get into fact-finding Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido , 139 S.Ct. 22 (decided November 6, 2018):