Category: US Constitution

President Barack Obama exceeded the recess appointment power granted under the U.S. Constitution when he appointed three members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to the unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court. The decision marke...

On the last day of the session, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. By a vote of 5-4, the justices ruled that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) so-called “contraception mandate” violates Religiou...

In Riley v. California, the majority held that police officers must obtain a warrant The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued its most important privacy decision in four decades. In Riley v. California, the majority held that police officers must obta...

Threats of causing actual harm to someone has never been considered protected speech under the First Amendment.  The U.S. Supreme Court will now review online threats made on Facebook and Twitter, in  Elonis v. United States. The case involves a se...

The U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped the most complex issues in Bond v. United States in yet another case of constitutional avoidance. Rather than address the limits of the federal government’s power to implement international treaties, the Court rul...

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to come to the aid of New York Times reporter James Risen. He is facing jail time after refusing to comply with a subpoena seeking the identity of a source used for his book, “State of War.” The government main...

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 ...

Prosecutors frequently seek to freeze the assets of criminal defendants, particularly in cases involving white-collar crimes. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, getting your money back just became more difficult. In Kaley v. United States, the Cour...

Earlier this month marked the 50th anniversary of New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964). The seminal First Amendment case, which occurred during the height of the civil rights movement, ensures that journalists can do their jobs without fea...