Category: Supreme Court Decisions

The U.S. Supreme Court recently announced its 6-2 ruling affirming Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in public colleges in the case of Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. The case involved a challenge to an amendment to the Mi...

The Supreme Court is expected to soon decide whether an amendment to a state constitution that bans the use of affirmative action at public universities is unconstitutional. The case is Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and oral argu...

On March 31, 2014, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments regarding whether computer-implemented inventions are patent eligible. The case, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, centers on Section 101 of the Patent Act which provides that �...

In the most important election law case since Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the United States Supreme Court has rejected the overall limits on the amount individuals are allowed to donate during a federal two-year cycle. McCutcheon ...

Syllabus of the Court For decades, Indianapolis (City) funded sewer projects using Indiana's Barrett Law, which permitted cities to apportion a public improvement project's costs equally among all abutting lots. Under that system, a city would creat...

Syllabus of the Court As amended by §203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), federal law prohibits corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make independent expenditures for speech that is an “electione...

Syllabus of the Court Invoking the Court's original jurisdiction under Art. III, § 2, of the Constitution, South Carolina filed a bill of complaint seeking a declaration of unconstitutionality as to certain provisions of the Voting Rights ...

Syllabus of the Court Segregation of white and Negro children in the public schools of a State solely on the basis of race, pursuant to state laws permitting or requiring such segregation, denies to Negro children the equal protection of the...

Syllabus of the Court Petitioner Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. The Synod classifies its school teachers into two categories: “called” and “lay.”...

Syllabus of the Court Petitioner Padilla, a lawful permanent resident of the United States for over 40 years, faces deportation after pleading guilty to drug-distribution charges in Kentucky. In postconviction proceedings, he claims that his...