The Oyez Project: 2002 Term Decisions

Abdur'Rahman v. Bell (No. 01-9094) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 10 Dec 2002 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

American Insurance Association v. Garamendi (No. 02-722) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Archer v. Warner (No. 01-1418) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 31 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does a federal district court, despite appropriation provisions barring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from acting on applications for relief from firearms disabilities from persons convicted of a felony, have the authority to grant such relief?

Barnhart v. Peabody Coal Co. (No. 01-705) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 15 Jan 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Must a plaintiff present direct evidence of discrimination in order to obtain a mixed-motive instruction under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991?

Beneficial National Bank v. Anderson (No. 02-306) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 02 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Black & Decker Disability Plan v. Nord (No. 02-469) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 27 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Boeing Co. v. United States (No. 01-1209) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Bankruptcy Code cover a debt embodied in a settlement agreement that settled a creditor's earlier claim "for money...obtained by...fraud?"

Borden Ranch v. United States Army Corps of Engineers (No. 01-1243) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 16 Dec 2002 12:00:00 -0500

Does a judgment become "final" for postconviction relief when the appellate court issues its mandate affirming the conviction where a defendant in a federal prosecution takes an unsuccessful direct appeal from a judgment of conviction but does not next petition for a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court?

Branch v. Smith (No. 01-1437) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 31 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Must an inmate demonstrate that a state court's finding of the absence of purposeful discrimination was incorrect by clear and convincing evidence in order for a court of appeals to issue a certificate of appealability?

Breuer v. Jim's Concrete (No. 02-337) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 19 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington (No. 01-1325) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Is a Maine statute providing for affordable prescription drugs pre-empted by the Supremacy Clause? Does the statute violate the Commerce Clause?

California Franchise Tax Board v. Hyatt (No. 02-42) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 23 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Chavez v. Martinez (No. 01-1444) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 27 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Is the amount-in-controversy requirement of the federal diversity statute satisfied where a class representative seeks an injunction that would cost the defendant more than $75,000 to implement whether the injunction applies to one plaintiff or all class members?

City of Cuyahoga Falls v. Buckeye Community Hope (No. 01-1269) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Are local governments "persons" subject to qui tam actions under the False Claims Act?

Clackamas Gastroenterology v. Wells (No. 01-1435) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the All Writs Act give a federal district court the authority to remove a state-court case in order to prevent the frustration of orders the federal court has previously issued?

Clay v. United States (No. 01-1500) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Do the criminal convictions of John Lawrence and Tyron Garner under the Texas "Homosexual Conduct" law, which criminalizes sexual intimacy by same-sex couples, but not identical behavior by different-sex couples, violate the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of laws? Do their criminal convictions for adult consensual sexual intimacy in the home violate their vital interests in liberty and privacy protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? Should Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), be overruled?

Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe (No. 01-1231) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Are a suspect's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and his Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process right to be free from coercive questioning violated when he was subjected to coercive questioning while in police custody, even if his coerced statements were never used against him in a criminal case?

Cook County v. United States ex rel. Chandler (No. 01-1572) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Can a group of physicians be compelled to arbitrate claims arising under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, even though the parties' arbitration agreements may be construed to limit the arbitrator's authority to award damages?

Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. (No. 02-428) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 02 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Demore v. Kim (No. 01-1491) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 exempt California's milk pricing and pooling regulations from scrutiny under the Commerce Clause? Are individual claims under the Privileges and Immunities Clause against California's required contributions to the price equalization pool on some out-of-state purchases foreclosed because those regulations do not discriminate on their face on the basis of state citizenship or state residence?

Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa (No. 02-679) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 09 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Dole Food Co. v. Patrickson (No. 01-593) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Nevada Supreme Court's refusal to extend full faith and credit to California's statute immunizing its tax collection agency from suit violate the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution?

Dow Chemical Company v. Stephenson (No. 02-271) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 09 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Eldred v. Ashcroft (No. 01-618) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 15 Jan 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Under ERISA, are companies required to defer to the decision of a disability claimant's personal physician?

Entergy Louisiana, Inc. v. Louisiana Public Service Comm. (No. 02-299) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 02 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Ewing v. California (No. 01-6978) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Is a defendant's right against double jeopardy violated when a trial judge grants a motion for a directed verdict of acquittal as to first-degree murder, but does not direct such a verdict to the jury that subsequently convicts the defendant of first-degree murder?

FCC v. Nextwave Communications, Inc. (No. 01-653) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 27 Jan 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the 11th Amendment's grant of sovereign immunity bar suit under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act for denial of a medical license based on an applicant's mental illness?

Federal Election Commission v. Beaumont (No. 02-403) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Fitzgerald v. Racing Association of Central Iowa (No. 02-695) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 09 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Ford Motor Co. v. McCauley (No. 01-896) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 15 Oct 2002 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Georgia v. Ashcroft (No. 02-182) - Opinion Announcement

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Gratz v. Bollinger (No. 02-516) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle (No. 02-634) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Grutter v. Bollinger (No. 02-241) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Hillside Dairy Inc. v. Lyons (No. 01-950) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 09 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Howsam v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. (No. 01-800) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 10 Dec 2002 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians (No. 02-281) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 19 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Jinks v. Richland County (No. 02-258) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Kentucky Assoc. of Health Plans, Inc. v. Miller (No. 00-1471) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 02 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 preempt any of Kentucky's "Any Willing Provider" statutes?

Lawrence and Garner v. Texas (No. 02-102) - Opinion Announcement

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Lockyer v. Andrade (No. 01-1127) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Is an award of $145 million in punitive damages, when full compensatory damages are $1 million, excessive and in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

Madigan v. Telemarketing Associates (No. 01-1806) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 05 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does a federally recognized tribe qualify as a "person" who may sue under 42 USC section 1983? Does a tribe's suit qualify for federal-court jurisdiction because it arises under some federal law other than section 1983?

Massaro v. United States (No. 01-1559) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 23 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Did the redistricting plan violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by spreading minority voters across several districts rather than concentrating them in a few heavily minority ones?

Meyer v. Holley (No. 01-1120) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 22 Jan 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does deep plowing ranchland to plant deep-rooted crops constitute the "addition" of a "pollutant" from a "point source" so as to fall within the regulation of the Clean Water Act? Is deep plowing ranchland which is farmable in its natural state to plant deep-rooted crops statutorily exempt from regulation under the Act's exemption for any discharge from "normal farming...activities such as plowing?" Does the Act's civil penalty section authorize assessing the maximum daily penalty for each time a plow crosses a seasonal drainage feature, without regard to the number of days when such activity occurred?

Miller-El v. Cockrell (No. 01-7662) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 25 Feb 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. (No. 01-1015) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Court of Federal Claims, under the Indian Tucker Act, have jurisdiction over the White Mountain Apache Tribe's suit against the United States for breach of fiduciary duty to manage land and improvements held in trust for the Tribe but occupied by the federal government?

National Park Hospitality Assn. v. Dept. of the Interior (No. 02-196) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 27 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Nevada Dept. of Human Resources v. Hibbs (No. 01-1368) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 27 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

May a corporate subsidiary claim instrumentality status where the foreign state does not own a majority of its shares but does own a majority of the shares of a corporate parent one or more tiers above the subsidiary? Is a corporation's instrumentality status defined as of the time an alleged tort or other actionable wrong occurred?

Nguyen v. United States (No. 01-10873) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 09 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Fair Housing Act impose personal liability without fault upon an officer or owner of a residential real estate corporation for the unlawful activity of the corporation's employee or agent?

Nike, Inc. v. Kasky (No. 02-575) - Opinion Announcement

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Ayers (No. 01-963) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Overton v. Bazzetta (No. 02-94) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

PacifiCare Health System v. Book (No. 02-215) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 07 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Pharmaceutical Research v. Walsh (No. 01-188) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 19 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

In providing for suits under the FLSA, did Congress bar removal of such actions from state to federal court?

Pierce County v. Guillen (No. 01-1229) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Should four physicians actively engaged in medical practice as shareholders and directors of a professional corporation be counted as employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990?

Price v. Vincent (No. 02-524) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 19 May 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Roell v. Withrow (No. 02-69) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania (No. 01-7574) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (NOW) (No. 01-1118) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 26 Feb 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Hazard Elimination Program exceed Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause?

Sell v. United States (No. 02-5664) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Smith v. Doe (No. 01-729) - Opinion Announcement

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Did the Department of Corrections ban on visits by minors violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment and the freedom of association of the First Amendment?

Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine (No. 01-706) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 03 Dec 2002 12:00:00 -0500

Do different tax rates levied against racetrack and casino gambling violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause?

State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co. v. Campbell (No. 01-1289) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 07 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the First Amendment permit a State to maintain fraud actions alleging that fundraisers made false or misleading representations designed to deceive donors about how their donations will be used?

Stogner v. California (No. 01-1757) - Opinion Announcement

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Is 28 USC section 1367(d), which requires state statute of limitations to be tolled for the period during which a plaintiff's cause of action had previously been pending in federal court, constitutional as applied to lawsuits brought against a State's political subdivisions?

Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. v. Henson (No. 01-757) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 05 Nov 2002 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

United States v. American Library Association (No. 02-361) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

United States v. Bean (No. 01-704) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 10 Dec 2002 12:00:00 -0500

May a corporation participating in a public debate be subjected to liability for factual inaccuracies on the theory that its statements are commercial speech because they might affect consumers' opinions about the business as a good corporate citizen and thereby affect their purchasing decisions?

United States v. Navajo Nation (No. 01-1375) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does section 525 of the Bankruptcy Code prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from revoking licenses held by a debtor in bankruptcy upon the debtor's failure to make timely payments owed to the FCC for purchase of the licenses?

United States v. Recio (No. 01-1184) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 21 Jan 2003 12:00:00 -0500

May an individual sue a State for money damages in federal court for violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993?

United States v. White Mt. Apache Tribe (No. 01-1067) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Commonwealth of Virginia's cross-burning statute, which prohibits the burning of a cross with the intent of intimidating any person or group of persons, violate the First Amendment?

Virginia v. Black (No. 01-1107) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 07 Apr 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Is the Ninth Circuit rule -- that a conspiracy ends automatically when the object of the conspiracy becomes impossible to achieve -- valid?

Virginia v. Hicks (No. 02-371) - Opinion Announcement

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Washington Dept. of Social & Health Services v. Guardianship of Keffeler (No. 01-1420) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 25 Feb 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 preempt state common-law claims related to propeller safety?

Wiggins v. Smith (No. 02-311) - Opinion Announcement

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 12:00:00 -0500

No details yet.

Woodford v. Garceau (No. 01-1862) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 25 Mar 2003 12:00:00 -0500

Does the NBA require that any suits involving charges of excessive interest be heard in federal rather than state court?

Yellow Transportation, Inc. v. Michigan (No. 01-270) - Opinion Announcement

Tue, 05 Nov 2002 12:00:00 -0500

Is the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority's trespass policy, which provides for arrest after being served notice for being on the premises without "a legitimate business or social purpose," facially invalid under the First Amendment's overbreadth doctrine?