Today in Supreme Court History: January 11

Dunn v. United States, 284 U.S. 390 (decided January 11, 1932): notable as the last opinion by Holmes, which he read from the bench (in a weak voice) the day before he resigned at age 90: sustaining conviction for nuisance for keeping liquor (this was during Prohibition) even though it was logically inconsistent with acquittals on the same evidence for selling and unlawful possession

Ransom v. FIA Card Services, N.A., 562 U.S. 61 (decided January 11, 2011): Chapter 13 (non-liquidation) debtor can’t claim “car ownership costs” because did not make loan or lease payments (he owned it free and clear and could claim only “operating costs”)

Brown v. Sanders, 546 U.S. 212 (decided January 11, 2006): affirming death penalty where jury found four “special circumstances” of aggravation, only one of which would have mandated execution, even though two of them were held by appeals court to be impermissibly redundant or vague

Ratzlaf v. United States, 510 U.S. 135 (decided January 11, 1994): defendant transferring $ in amounts less than $10,000 was not aware that bank was required to report transactions of that size or larger and therefore did not violate antistructuring statute, 31 U.S.C. §5234(3); Congress later removed the willfulness requirement; see 6 F.4th 380 n.5

Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U.S. 238 (decided January 11, 1984): Those of us of a certain age remember Karen Silkwood, who was repeatedly contaminated with plutonium while working at a nuclear power plant and was killed in a mysterious car crash while on the way to meet a journalist.  Her father as administrator of her estate sued the plant operator and won punitive damages under Oklahoma law.  Here, the Court holds that the punitive award was not preempted by the liability limiting provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or the Price-Anderson Act of 1957.