Today in Supreme Court History: May 14

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 other teams (looking at his stats, his last useful year was 1986, and the Padres saved him from late-career humiliations like what Steve Carlton was going through at the time).  The arbitrator ruled against him despite a self-incriminating letter written by Ballard Smith (Padres president), he appealed, and the Circuit Court vacated the award as “industrial justice”.  The Court holds that it is not the business of the courts to review an arbitration award on the merits, even when arbitrator’s factfinding is “improvident and even silly”, and restores the award.  (An arbitrator’s decision is called an “award” even when he rules against the claimant.)

United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648 (decided May 14, 1984): New attorney, inexperienced in criminal matters, given only 25 days to prepare for complex $9.4 million mail fraud trial involving four years of government investigation and thousands of documents, with some witnesses still not tracked down; predictably, screws up.  Yet Court does not find “ineffective assistance of counsel”.

McCoy v. Louisiana, 584 U.S. 414 (decided May 14, 2018): Experienced attorney decided to admit murder guilt and pursue mental instability defense despite client’s repeated insistence that he didn’t do it.  This was ineffective assistance of counsel.

Murphy v. NCAA, 584 U.S. 453 (decided May 14, 2018): under Tenth Amendment (federal government can’t control state governments), federal government can’t prohibit states from allowing sports gambling

Byrd v. United States, 584 U.S. 395 (decided May 14, 2018): heroin in rented car after warrantless search suppressed because driver, not listed by renter as authorized driver but driving with her permission, was entitled to Fourth Amendment expectation of privacy

Dahda v. United States, 584 U.S. 395 (decided May 14, 2018): District Court warrant that improperly authorized some wiretaps outside the District’s jurisdiction was still valid as to those within

United States v. Sanchez-Gomez, 584 U.S. 381 (decided May 14, 2018): challenge to District Court policy permitting gratuitous use of full body restraints on defendants attending nonjury proceedings was not a “functional class action” and therefore dismissed as moot when challengers’ criminal cases were resolved