Today in Supreme Court History: June 26

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (decided June 26, 2015): bans on same-sex marriage violate Equal Protection (ruling on various cases involving adoption laws, issuing of marriage licenses, etc.)

Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (decided June 26, 2003): Texas statute prohibiting same-sex genital contact struck down as violating Due Process clause (of course it was gay male couple getting arrested; laws against gay sex were hardly ever enforced against lesbians); distinguished Bowers v. Hardwick, 1986, with the excuse that only 13 states now prohibited gay sex

United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (decided June 26, 2013): striking down Defense of Marriage Act which denied federal recognition of same sex marriages (at issue was whether a surviving same-sex spouse from New York where gay marriage was legal could claim federal tax exemption on estate)

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (decided June 26, 2008): right to keep and bear arms is not tied to militia service (overruling case law relying on Miller v. U.S., 1939) and applies to self-defense in the home (at issue was a D.C. handgun ban) though right is “not unlimited” and bans on concealed carry and restrictions on sale are permissible

Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405 (decided June 26, 1974): invalidating on First Amendment grounds statute forbidding affixing material to American flag (plaintiff had put a peace symbol on his flag and hung it outside his window upside down as a Vietnam War protest)

Hollingsworth v. Perry, 570 U.S. 693 (decided June 26, 2013): no “case or controversy” when opponents of gay marriage try to appeal the District Court’s Equal Protection striking down of the anti-gay-marriage Proposition 8 after state officials refused to further defend it (my neighbors, California residents at the time, were among the gay couples whose legal marriage became illegal with Prop 8 and then legal again with the District Court decision)

Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. 667 (decided June 26, 2018): deferring to executive branch discretion in upholding restrictions imposed by Trump on travel from North Korea, Syria, Iran, Chad, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia; only text of executive order is analyzed, President’s public declarations that it was based on race and religion disregarded

NLRB v. Canning, 573 U.S. 513 (decided June 26, 2014): President cannot use Recess Appointment Clause for appointments when Senate declares it is not in recess even though it actually is (plaintiff was contesting NLRB decision against his Pepsi distributorship on the basis that majority of commissioners were not validly appointed; Obama’s appointments were designed to achieve statutory NLRB quorum because the Senate had refused to act on nominees; Democrats had done the same with G.W. Bush nominees, although not with the intention of crippling the agency)

Kisor v. Wilkie, 588 U.S. --- (decided June 26, 2019): Chevron deference (Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 1984) is to an agency’s interpretation of statute; Auer deference (Auer v. Robbins, 1997) is to its interpretation of its own regulations.  Here the Court under Auer defers to VA’s timing of retroactive PTSD benefits under its regulation allowing reopening a case when new records introduced (psychiatric report).

Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Ass’n v. Thomas, 588 U.S. 504 (decided June 26, 2019): Dormant Commerce Clause violated by Tennessee law requiring two years’ residency before applying for liquor license

Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702 (decided June 26, 1997): right to assisted suicide is not subject to Due Process clause (i.e., terminating one’s life is not “life, liberty or property” protected by the clause)