Today in Supreme Court History: November 14

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 restricting religious bequests was not a “statute of the United States” and therefore no direct appeal to the Court from decision of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals striking down the statute on First Amendment grounds (this is the highest local D.C. court, created in 1970, not the federal-system D.C. Circuit Court with which D.C. appeals had been entangled); appeal can only be heard via certiorari, which is denied (the Court was parsing the language of the former version of 28 U.S.C. §1257, which required the Court to hear highest-court decisions striking down “statutes of the United States”; in 1988 the statute was changed to permit appeals only by cert, all but eliminating the Court’s mandatory appellate jurisdiction)

Ward v. Village of Monroeville, Ohio, 409 U.S. 57 (decided November 14, 1972): Due Process violated when trial as to a traffic offense was held before mayor who was also responsible for village finances and therefore had an interest in imposing fines