Month: March 2016

In Wearry v. Cain, 577 U. S. ____ (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the prosecution’s failure to disclose material evidence violated the petitioner’s due process rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Accordingly, the justices orde...

In 1913, the states ratified the Seventeenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to require the direct election of senators by the citizens of the United States.    When drafting the U.S. Constitution, the framers intended that the states ...

In V.L. v. E.L, 577 U. S. ____ (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the State of Alabama must recognize an adoption by a same-sex parent that occurred in another state. The Court’s per curium decision rested on the Constitution’s ...

In Swift & Co. v. United States, 196 U.S. 375 (1905), the U.S. Supreme Court held that Congress was authorized under the Constitution to regulate local business activities that were part of the "stream of commerce" between states. The ruling a...

On March 7, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court held that for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, the citizenship of an unincorporated entity, such as a real estate investment trust, depends on the citizenship of all of its members. The decision in Americol...

In Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356 (1886), the U.S. Supreme Court first held that discriminatory enforcement of a facially neutral law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.   The Facts of the Yick Wo v. Hop...

On March 1, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) pre-empts a Vermont law requiring certain entities, including health insurers, to report payments relating to health care claims to a state agency ...

In In re Eugene V. Debs, 158 U.S. 564 (1895), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the government’s use of a court injunction to order striking workers back on the job. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the federal government had the right ...

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in several potential blockbuster cases this month. Topics on the agenda include restrictions of abortion, the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, and racial gerrymandering. Of course, e...

In Cohens v. Virginia, 19 U.S. 264 (1821), the U.S. Supreme Court established itself as the highest court in the county. The justices expressly held that the Court had appellate jurisdiction over state court criminal law decisions involving alleg...