In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether states may grant their courts general jurisdiction to hear cases involving businesses that register to do business in their state.
Continue readingSupreme Court to Decide Significant Spending Clause Case
In Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County, Indiana v. Talevski the U.S. Supreme may decide two questions. First, it may review its holding that Spending Clause legislation allows private parties to bring lawsuits for money damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Section 1983). Assuming the Court doesn’t overturn this holding it will decide whether such claims may be brought under the Federal Nursing Home Amendments Act (FNHRA) transfer and medication rules.
Continue readingBoston Loses Third-Party Flag SCOTUS Case
In Shurtleff v. City of Boston the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that Boston’s refusal to fly a Christian flag on a flagpole outside city hall violated the First Amendment.
Continue readingSCOTUS Holds Emotional Distress Damages Aren’t Available Under Various Spending Clause Anti-Discrimination Statutes
In Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller the U.S. Supreme Court held 6-3 that emotional distress damages aren’t available if funding recipients violate four federal statutes adopted using Congress’s Spending Clause authority.
Continue readingSCOTUS Decides Choice-of-Law Case Involving Painting Stolen by Nazis
In Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that in a Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) case against a foreign state raising non-federal claims a court must apply whatever choice-of-law rule the court would use if the foreign state was a private party.
Continue readingSCOTUS Rules SSI Benefits Don’t Have to be Available to Puerto Ricans
In United States v. Vaello Madero the U.S. Supreme Court held 8-1 that Congress hasn’t violated the equal-protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by failing to make Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits available to Puerto Rico residents.
Continue readingStates and Local Governments Win SCOTUS Sign Case
In City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising the U.S. Supreme Court held 6-3 that strict (fatal) scrutiny doesn’t apply to Austin allowing on-premises but not off-premises signs to be digitized.
Continue readingSLLC Files Supreme Court Brief in Waters of the United States Case
In Sackett v. EPA the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the proper test for determining when wetlands are “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The State and Local Legal Center (SLLC) amicus brief argues that municipal water infrastructure isn’t WOTUS.
Continue readingSupreme Court Allows Clean Water Act Rule to Stay in Effect
In Louisiana v. American Rivers, the Supreme Court has prevented a California district court decision from going into effect that vacated (set aside) a rule implementing Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.
Continue readingSCOTUS Issues Unfavorable Ruling for States and Local Governments in Malicious Prosecution Case
In a 6-3 decision in Thompson v. Clark the U.S. Supreme Court held that to demonstrate a favorable termination of a criminal prosecution in order to bring a Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution case a plaintiff need only show that his or her prosecution ended without a conviction.
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