Tuesday round-up
on Jun 2, 2015 at 9:54 am
Yesterday the Court returned and kicked off the last month before its summer recess with four opinions in argued cases, as well as orders from last week’s Conference. Mark Walsh provided a view from the Courtroom for this blog.
The Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Elonis v. United States, reversing a Pennsylvania man’s conviction for making threats on Facebook. Lyle Denniston covered the decision for this blog, with other coverage coming from NPR’s Nina Totenberg, Mark Walsh at Education Week’s School Law Blog, Jaclyn Belczyk of JURIST, and Jeff John Roberts of Fortune (via MSN). Commentary comes from Ruthann Robson at Constitutional Law Prof Blog, Noah Feldman at Bloomberg View, Daniel Fisher of Forbes, Ilya Shapiro at Cato at Liberty, Margaret Drew at the Human Rights at Home Blog, Kent Scheidegger at Crime and Consequences (in three posts), and Angus Johnston at Student Activism.
The Court also issued its decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch, reversing the Tenth Circuit’s ruling that the retailer could not be held liable for failing to hire a Muslim teenager who wears a headscarf when the woman had failed to notify the company that she would need accommodations. Lyle Denniston covered the decision for this blog, with other coverage from Jess Bravin for The Wall Street Journal, NPR’s Nina Totenberg (who has another story this morning) Mark Walsh for Education Week’s School Law Blog, Lawrence Hurley of Reuters (via MSN), and Jaclyn Belczyk of JURIST. Commentary comes from Noah Feldman for Bloomberg View, Marci Hamilton at Hamilton and Griffin on Rights, Lisa Soronen at the International Municipal Lawyers Association’s Appellate Practice Blog, Walter Olson at Cato at Liberty, Hera Arsen at Ogletree Deakins, Daniel Fisher of Forbes, and Fisher and Phillips at its blog,
In Mellouli v. Lynch, the Court ruled that a non-citizen’s state conviction for concealing prescription pills in his sock does not trigger removal. Kevin Johnson covered the decision for this blog, with other coverage coming from Jaclyn Belczyk of JURIST.
And in Bank of America v. Caulkett, the Court held that the Bankruptcy Code does not allow a Chapter 7 debtor to void a junior mortgage lien when the value of the collateral is less than the senior mortgage lien if the claim is both secured by a lien and allowed. I covered the decision for this blog, with other coverage from Jaclyn Belczyk of JURIST and commentary from Daniel Fisher of Forbes.
The Court also issued orders from last Thursday’s Conference. With no new grants, most attention focused on the Court’s denial of review in County of Maricopa v. Lopez-Valenzuela, involving an Arizona law prohibiting bail for non-citizens charged with a serious crime. Howard Fischer covered the order for Capitol Media Services (via the Arizona Capitol Times) and the Arizona Daily Star, while Ruthann Robson weighs in on Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent from the denial of review for the Constitutional Law Prof Blog.
Briefly:
- In the Texas Lawyer (subscription or registration required), Miriam Rozen reports on last week’s decision in Commil USA v. Cisco Systems, in which the Court held that a defendant’s belief regarding patent validity is not a defense to an induced infringement claim.
- In an op-ed for The Hill, Juan Williams weighs in on King v. Burwell, in which the Court is considering the availability of subsidies for individuals who buy health insurance on an exchange established by the federal government, and argues that “nobody wins when the courts get caught up in hyper-partisan politics.”
[Disclosure: John Elwood, a frequent contributor to this blog, is among the counsel to Anthony Elonis. However, I am not involved in the case in any way.]
