Joe Elwood

United States Supreme Court (15 summaries)

Johnson v. Williams

When a state court addresses some of the claims raised on appeal but does not expressly address a federal claim that is later raised in habeas proceedings, there is a rebuttable presumption that the state court decided the federal claim on its merits.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Habeas Corpus

First American Financial Corp. v. Edwards

Certiorari dismissed as improvidently granted.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Standing

Parker v. Matthews

The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit improperly set aside a murder conviction in a clear example of "using federal habeas corpus review as a vehicle to second-guess the reasonable decisions of state courts" as proscribed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Habeas Corpus

Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd.

The Court Interpreters Act provides for compensation for oral translation but not document translation.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

Armour v. Indianapolis

Whether the City of Indianapolis violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by forgiving tax assessments to property owners who were paying in installments, while not offering refunds to property owners who paid in full.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

Missouri v. Frye

The right to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment extends to the consideration of plea offers that lapse because counsel did not inform the defendant of the plea.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Post-Conviction Relief

Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California, Inc.

The original issue of whether Medicaid providers and recipients may maintain a Supremacy Clause action is not longer applicable because the federal administration in charge of administering Medicaid decided that the state statutes were consistent with federal law.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

Ryburn v. Huff

A police officer may enter an individual's residence without violating the 4th Amendment if a reasonable police officer in the same position could have had an objectively reasonable basis for fearing imminent violence.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Procedure

Holder v. Gutierrez consolidated with Holder v. Sawyers

Whether the years that a person's parents are in the United States legally can be applied to the years required for that person to meet the seven year requirement of 8 U.S.C. 1229b(a)(2) for cancellation of removal.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Immigration

Gonzalez v. Thaler

A judge's failure to indicate a constitutional issue as required in 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(3) does not deprive the Court of Appeals of subject matter jurisdiction because §2253(c)(3) is not a jurisdictional requirement. Additionally for a state prisoner who does not seek review in the State's highest court, the judgment becomes "final" for the purpose of calculating the one-year limitation period of 28 U.S.C. §2244(d)(1)(A) on the date that the time for seeking such review expires.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Habeas Corpus

Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter

Whether the government is required to pay contract support costs to a tribal contractor, where Congress has imposed an express statutory cap on the money available to pay these support costs and the amount of the tribal contract support costs exceed the cap.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Indian Law

Hall v. United States

Whether a debtor must pay federal income tax on capital gains from the sale of their farm during bankruptcy proceedings.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Bankruptcy Law

KPMG LLP v. Robert Cocchi et al.

When a complaint contains both arbitrable and nonarbitrable claims, the Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to compel arbitration of the arbitrable claims.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution

Rehberg v. Paulk

Whether a government official is entitled to absolutely immunity from a section 1983 claim for damages when their false testimony to a grand jury caused the prosecution of an innocent individual.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington

(Whether the Fourth Amendment permits a jail to conduct a strip search of individual's arrested for civil contempt.)

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Procedure

United States Supreme Court Certiorari Granted (4 summaries)

United States v. Kebodeaux

Whether the Sex Offender and Notification Act (SORNA) is constitutional as applied against a person who completed his criminal sentence prior to SORNA's enactment.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Constitutional Law

Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council

Whether water that flows from one point in a navigable waterway, through a man-made channel, and back into the same river, can be considered a "discharge" from an "outfall" under the Clean Water Act.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Environmental Law

Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds

Whether a court must require proof of materiality or allow evidence rebutting the applicability of the fraud-on-the-market theory before certifying a class based on that theory.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

Tibbals v. Carter

Whether a prisoner who has been sentenced to death has a "right to competence" and if so whether a federal court may stay habeas proceedings indefinitely.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Habeas Corpus

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