2023-2024 Granted Cases
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited (No. 22-448)
Issue(s): Whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the statute providing funding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 12 U.S.C. § 5497, violates the appropriations clause in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, and in vacating a regulation promulgated at a time when the Bureau was receiving such funding.
- Overview of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited – SCTOUSblog
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s fate is again in the hands of the Supreme Court – Joan Biskupic, CNN
- CFPB Funding System Gets High Court Review at Biden’s Behest – Greg Stohr, Bloomberg
- Supreme Court to Take Up Case on Fate of Consumer Watchdog – Adam Liptak, The New York Times
Pulsifer v. U.S. (No. 22-340)
Issue(s): Whether a defendant satisfies the criteria in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(1) as amended by the First Step Act of 2018 in order to qualify for the federal drug-sentencing “safety valve” provision so long as he does not have (a) more than four criminal history points, (b) a three-point offense, and (c) a two-point offense, or whether the defendant satisfies the criteria so long as he does not have (a), (b), or (c).
- Overview of Pulsifer v. U.S. – SCOTUSblog
- US Supreme Court to hear cases on criminal sentencing and appropriations – Marissa Zupancic, Jurist
Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC (No. 22-500)
Issue(s): Whether, under federal admiralty law, a choice-of-law clause in a maritime contract can be rendered unenforceable if enforcement is contrary to the “strong public policy” of the state whose law is displaced.
- Overview of Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC – SCOTUSblog
- U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether State’s Public Policy Interest Could Sink Insurance Policy’s Choice-of-Law Provision – David Klein, William Miller, JDSupra
- Off to Sea the Wizard: High Court Takes On Marine Insurance Dispute – James E. Mercante, The New York Law Journal
Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer (No. 22-429)
Issue(s): Whether a self-appointed Americans with Disabilities Act “tester” has Article III standing to challenge a place of public accommodation’s failure to provide disability accessibility information on its website, even if she lacks any intention of visiting that place of public accommodation.
- Overview of Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer – SCOTUSblog
- Supreme Court to Hear Dispute Between Maine Hotel and Disability Activist – Adam Liptak, The New York Times
- U.S. Supreme Court Grants Cert in ADA “Tester” Case – The National Law Review
Culley v. Marshall (No. 22-585)
Issue(s): Whether district courts, in determining whether the due process clause requires a state or local government to provide a post-seizure probable-cause hearing prior to a statutory judicial-forfeiture proceeding and, if so, when such a hearing must take place, should apply the “speedy trial” test employed in United States v. $8,850 and Barker v. Wingo or the three-part due process analysis set forth in Mathews v. Eldridge.
- Overview of Culley v. Marshall – SCOTUSblog
- Car Seizures Are New Test for Justices on Property Rights – Lydia Wheeler, Bloomberg
- Supreme Court Will Consider Need for Speed in Civil Forfeiture Challenges – Steve Lash, National Law Journal
- Justices To Hear Whether Post-Seizure Hearings Are Required – Marco Poggio, Law360
O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier (No. 22-324)
Issue(s): Whether a public official engages in state action subject to the First Amendment by blocking an individual from the official’s personal social-media account, when the official uses the account to feature their job and communicate about job-related matters with the public, but does not do so pursuant to any governmental authority or duty.
- Overview of O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier – SCOTUSblog
- Can officials block critics on Twitter? Supreme Court weighs if that violates First Amendment. – John Fritze, USA Today
- Supreme Court to Decide Whether Officials Can Block Critics on Social Media – Adam Liptak, The New York Times
- Supreme Court will decide when public officials can block people from personal social media accounts – Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal
- The Supreme Court’s next target: social media – Clay Calvert (Opinion Contributor), The Hill
- Facebook, Twitter Curbs by Government Get Supreme Court Review – Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg
Lindke v. Freed (No. 22-611)
Issue(s): Whether a public official’s social media activity can constitute state action only if the official used the account to perform a governmental duty or under the authority of his or her office.
- Overview of Lindke v. Freed – SCOTUSblog
- Can officials block critics on Twitter? Supreme Court weighs if that violates First Amendment. – John Fritze, USA Today
- Supreme Court will decide when public officials can block people from personal social media accounts – Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal
- The Supreme Court’s next target: social media – Clay Calvert (Opinion Contributor), The Hill
- Facebook, Twitter Curbs by Government Get Supreme Court Review – Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg
Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC (No. 22-660)
Issue(s): Whether, following the burden-shifting framework that governs cases under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a whistleblower must prove his employer acted with a “retaliatory intent” as part of his case in chief, or whether the lack of “retaliatory intent” is part of the affirmative defense on which the employer bears the burden of proof.
- Overview of Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC – SCOTUSblog
- UBS Whistleblower’s Retaliation Case Taken Up by Supreme Court – Khorri Atkinson, Bloomberg
- High Court Whistleblower Case Is Bigger Than Wall Street – Jessica Corso, Law360
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (No. 22-451)
Issue(s): Whether the court should overrule Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, or at least clarify that statutory silence concerning controversial powers expressly but narrowly granted elsewhere in the statute does not constitute an ambiguity requiring deference to the agency.
- Overview of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo – SCOTUSblog
- Supreme Court to hear major case on limiting the power of federal government, a long-term goal of legal conservatives – Ariane de Vogue, Devan Cole, and Joan Biskupic, CNN
- Supreme Court to Reconsider Precedent Giving Federal Agencies Benefit of Doubt – Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal
- Supreme Court’s Chevron Review Caps Years-Long Conservative Push – Emily Birnbaum, Jennifer A. Blouhy, and Greg Stohr, Bloomberg
- US Supreme Court to Consider Curbing Authority of Federal Regulatory Agencies – Greg Stohr, Bloomberg
- A Welcome Supreme Court Review of Chevron Deference – The Wall Street Journal
- A new Supreme Court case seeks to make the nine justices even more powerful – Ian Millhiser, Vox
Brown v. U.S. (No. 22-6389)
Issue(s): Whether the "serious drug offense" definition in the Armed Career Criminal Act incorporates the federal drug schedules that were in effect at the time of the federal firearm offense or the federal drug schedules that were in effect at the time of the prior state drug offense.
- Overview of Brown v. U.S. – SCOTUSblog
- Justices To Hear Cases On Gun Sentencing For Repeat Felons – Marco Poggio, Law360
- Supreme Court to Consider Sentencing in Light of New Drug Laws – Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg
Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP (No. 22-807)
Issue(s): (1) Whether the district court erred when it failed to apply the presumption of good faith and to holistically analyze South Carolina Congressional District 1 and the South Carolina General Assembly’s intent; (2) whether the district court erred in failing to enforce the alternative-map requirement in this circumstantial case; (3) whether the district court erred when it failed to disentangle race from politics; (4) whether the district court erred in finding racial predominance when it never analyzed District 1’s compliance with traditional districting principles; (5) whether the district court clearly erred in finding that the General Assembly used a racial target as a proxy for politics when the record showed only that the General Assembly was aware of race, that race and politics are highly correlated, and that the General Assembly drew districts based on election data; and (6) whether the district court erred in upholding the intentional-discrimination claim when it never even considered whether—let alone found that—District 1 has a discriminatory effect.
- Overview of Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP – SCOTUSblog
- U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Appeal in South Carolina Redistricting Case That Held State Gerrymandered Black Voters – ACLU Press Release
- Supreme Court to Consider South Carolina Voting Map Ruled a Racial Gerrymander – Adam Liptak, The New York Times
- US Supreme Court Will Hear South Carolina GOP Appeal on Voting Map – Greg Stohr, Bloomberg
- Supreme Court to weigh South Carolina plan that 'exiled' Black voters – Robert Barnes, The Washington Post
- A new Supreme Court case threatens to make gerrymandering even worse – Ian Millhiser, Vox
Vidal v. Elster (No. 22-704)
Issue(s): Whether the refusal to register a trademark under 15 U.S.C. § 1052(c) violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment when the mark contains criticism of a government official or public figure.
- Overview of Vidal v. Elster – SCOTUSblog
- Supreme Court will hear attempt to trademark ‘Trump Too Small’ – Robert Barnes, The Washington Post
- ‘Trump Too Small’ Trademark Fight Gets US Supreme Court Review – Greg Stohr, Bloomberg
- Supreme Court agrees to hear dispute over effort to trademark "Trump Too Small" – Melissa Quinn, CBS News
- SCOTUS will consider First Amendment right to trademark 'Trump too small' without Trump's consent – Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal
Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service v. Kirtz (No. 22-846)
Issue(s): Whether the civil-liability provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act unequivocally and unambiguously waive the sovereign immunity of the United States.
- Overview of Department of Agriculture Rural Development Rural Housing Service v. Kirtz – SCOTUSblog
- Supreme Court to Decide if US Can Be Sued as Creditor, Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg Law
- US Supreme Court agrees to hear case concerning federal government’s sovereign immunity, Lauren Ban, Jurist
- US Supreme Court to hear government appeal in credit report dispute, John Kruzel, Reuters
Rudisill v. McDonough (No. 22-888)
Issue(s): Whether a veteran who has served two separate and distinct periods of qualifying service under the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill is entitled to receive a total of 48 months of education benefits as between both programs, without first exhausting the Montgomery benefit in order to obtain the more generous Post-9/11 benefit.
- Overview of Rudisill v. McDonough – SCOTUSblog
- Important Policy Implications of Rudisill v. McDonough – Timothy L. McHugh, Abbey M. Thornhill, and David J. DePippo, Dominion Energy Services Inc.
- Supreme Court Accepts GI Bill Case That Could Affect 1.7 Million Veterans – Patricia Kime, Military.com
- Post 9/11 Veterans’ Educational Benefits Get High Court Look – Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg Law
- Troutman Pepper and Dominion Energy Pro Bono Team Turn to Nation's Highest Court as Fight Continues for Full Educational Benefits for Military Veterans
Moore v. U.S. (No. 22-800)
Issue(s): Whether the 16th Amendment authorizes Congress to tax unrealized sums without apportionment among the states.
- Overview of Moore v. U.S. – SCOTUSblog
- Is a U.S. Wealth Tax Constitutional? – Wall Street Journal
- A Wealth-Tax Watershed for the Supreme Court – Wall Street Journal
- A constitutional overreach with dire consequences for philanthropy – Jack Salmon, The Hill
- Supreme Court Will Hear Case Targeting Tax On Unrealized Gains – Forbes
- The Ninth Circuit Upholds a Wealth Tax – Christopher Cox and Hank Adler, The Wall Street Journal
- Supreme Court to Consider Scope of Congress's Taxing Power under the 16th Amendment – Jonathan H. Adler, Reason
Campos-Chaves v. Garland (No. 22-674)
Issue(s): Whether the government provides notice “required under” and “in accordance with paragraph (1) or (2) of” 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a) when it serves an initial notice document that does not include the “time and place” of proceedings followed by an additional document containing that information, such that an immigration court must enter a removal order in absentia and deny a noncitizen's request to rescind that order.
- Overview of Campos-Chaves v. Garland – SCOTUSblog
- Immigration Court Notice Requirements to Get Supreme Court Look – John Wooley, Bloomberg
- Justices To Weigh Immigration Hardship, Removal Notices – Britain Eakin, Law360
McElrath v. Georgia (No. 22-721)
Issue(s): Whether the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits a second prosecution for a crime of which a defendant was previously acquitted.
- Overview of McElrath v. Georgia – SCOTUSblog
- Justices Take Up Double Jeopardy Challenge on Acquitted Conduct – Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg
- Justices To Weigh Double Jeopardy In 'Repugnant' Verdicts – Ivan Moreno, Law360
- State Supreme Court says man convicted twice in mother's death can't argue double jeopardy – Gabriella Nunez, 11Alive
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy (No. 22-859)
Issue(s): (1) Whether statutory provisions that empower the Securities and Exchange Commission to initiate and adjudicate administrative enforcement proceedings seeking civil penalties violate the Seventh Amendment; (2) whether statutory provisions that authorize the SEC to choose to enforce the securities laws through an agency adjudication instead of filing a district court action violate the nondelegation doctrine; and (3) whether Congress violated Article II by granting for-cause removal protection to administrative law judges in agencies whose heads enjoy for-cause removal protection.
- Overview of Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy – SCOTUSblog
- Another federal agency challenges adverse ruling by 5th Circuit, Kalvis Golde, SCOTUSblog
- Justices Likely To Hear Case That 'Cast Cloud' On SEC Courts, Jessica Corso, Law 360
- SEC’s Use of In-House Judges Will Get US Supreme Court Review – Greg Stohr, Bloomberg
- SEC asks SCOTUS to review Fifth Circuit decision with implications for CFPB’s use of administrative law judges – Michael Gordon & Alan S. Kaplinsky, Consumer Finance Monitor
- Supreme Court will decide whether SEC enforcement actions violate right to jury trial – Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal
U.S. v. Rahimi (No. 22-915)
Issue(s): Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic-violence restraining orders, violates the Second Amendment on its face.
- Overview of U.S. v. Rahimi – SCOTUSblog
- Do People Subject to Domestic Abuse Orders Have the Right to Be Armed? – Adam Liptak, The New York Times
- Supreme Court to Hear Major Guns Case Involving Domestic Violence – Adam Liptak and Glenn Thrush , The New York Times
- The Supreme Court will decide if abusive spouses have a right to own guns – Ian Millhiser, Vox
- Gun Ban in Domestic-Violence Cases Draws Supreme Court Review – Greg Stohr, Bloomberg
- Supreme Court Will Consider Right Of Domestic Abusers to Own Firearms – Jack McCordick, Vanity Fair
Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri (No. 22-193)
Issue(s): Whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in transfer decisions absent a separate court determination that the transfer decision caused a signification disadvantage.
- Overview of Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri – SCOTUSblog
- US Supreme Court to consider whether employees can sue for bias-motivated workplace transfers – Rebekah Yeager-Malkin, Jurist
- Court agrees to hear Title VII employer discrimination case – Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog
- Justices To Mull If Lateral Job Transfers Can Violate Title VII – Vin Gurrieri, Law360
- US Supreme Court to Weigh In on Employees’ Rights to Sue for Bias-Driven Workplace Transfers – Rachel E, JDJournal
Wilkinson v. Garland (No. 22-666)
Issue(s): Whether an agency determination that a given set of established facts does not rise to the statutory standard of “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” is a mixed question of law and fact reviewable under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D), or whether this determination is a discretionary judgment call unreviewable under Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i).
- Overview of Wilkinson v. Garland – SCOTUSblog
- Justices asked to weigh in again on “mixed” questions in immigration appeals – Kalvis Golde, SCTOUSblog
- Deportation Hardship Waiver Case Gets Supreme Court Review – Emily Garcia, Bloomberg