US Supreme Court Docket

Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan| Feb | Mar| Apr| Unscheduled
April 2002 Monday, April 15

United States v. Leonard Cotton et al.
No. 01-687

Subject:

Sentencing, Enhancements, Indictments

Question:

Whether the omission from a federal indictment of a fact that enhances the statutory maximum sentence requires a court of appeals automatically to vacate the enhanced sentence, notwithstanding that the defendant did not object to the sentence in the district court, the government introduced overwhelming proof of the fact that supports the enhanced sentence, and the defendant had notice that the fact could be used to seek an enhanced sentence.

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 4th Circuit, Filed: August 10, 2001
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 4th Circuit, Filed: August 17, 2001
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 4th Circuit, Filed: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: May 20, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Parties:
• Petitioner (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT]
• Petitioner - Reply (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT]
  
  
• Petitioner [PDF] [TEXT]

Franconia Associates et al. v. United States
No. 01-455

Subject:

Government Mortgage Loans, Prepayments, Takings Clause

Question:

1. Whether a breach of contract claim accrues for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2501 when Congress enacts a statute alleged to abridge a contractual right to freedom from regulatory covenants upon prepayment of government mortgage loans.
   
   
2. Whether a Fifth Amendment takings claim accrues for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2501 when Congress enacts a statute alleged to abridge a contractual right to freedom from regulatory covenants upon prepayment of government mortgage loans.

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - Federal Circuit, Filed: February 15, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 10, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

• [Coming Soon]

Tuesday, April 16

United States v. Christopher Drayton et al.
No. 01-631

Subject:

Warrantless Searches, Public Buses, Consent

Question:

Whether an officer who informs a passenger on a bus that the officer is conducting drug and illegal weapons interdiction and asks the passenger for consent to search, while another officer stays at the front of the bus without blocking the exit, has effected a "seizure" of that passenger within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment and Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (1991).

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 11th Circuit, Filed: October 24, 2000
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 11th Circuit, Released: November 3, 2000
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 17, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Parties:
• Petitioner (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT]
• Petitioner - Reply (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT]
  
  
• Petitioner [PDF] [TEXT]
  
  Amicus - Petitioner:
• Washington Legal Foundation [PDF]

BE&K Construction Co. v. NLRB et al.
No. 01-518

Subject:

Attorneys Fees, Unions, Unfair Labor Practice

Question:

Did the Court of Appeals err in holding that under Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. NLRB, 461 U.S. 731 (1983), the NLRB may impose liability on an employer for filing a losing retaliatory lawsuit, even if the employer could show the suit was not objectively baseless under Professional Real Estate Investors, Inc. v. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., 508 U.S. 49 (1993)?

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 6th Circuit, Filed: April 9, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 24, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Parties:
• Respondent [PDF]
  
  Amicus - Petitioner:
• Chamber of Commerce of the United States et al. [PDF]

Wednesday, April 17

Larry Hope v. Mark Pelzer et al.
No. 01-309

Subject:

Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Qualified Immunity, Inmates

Question:

1. Whether state officials sued in their individual capacities under 42 U. S. C. §1983 are entitled to qualified immunity unless they have violated statutory or constitutional rights clearly established by a case presenting facts materially similar to those in the plaintiff s case.
   
   
2. Whether under the circumstances that must be taken as true at the summary judgment stage of this case, tying a prisoner to a hitching post violates clearly established constitutional rights for purposes of qualified immunity under 42 U. S. C. §1983."

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 11th Circuit, Filed: February 2, 2001
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 11th Circuit, Released: February 14, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 27, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

• [Coming Soon]

JPMorgan Chase Bank v. Traffic Stream (BVI)
No. 01-651

Subject:

British Virgin Island Corporation, Alienage Jurisdiction

Question:

Whether corporations organized under the laws of United Kingdom Overseas Territories are "citizens or subjects of a foreign state" for purposes of alienage diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1332(a)(2).

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 2nd Circuit, Decided: May 24, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 10, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Parties:
• Respondent [PDF]
  
  Amicus - Petitioner:
• United States (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT]
  
  
• United States [PDF] [TEXT]

Monday, April 22

United States v. Fior D'Italia, Inc.
No. 01-463

Subject:

FICA, Taxes, Tips, Internal Revenue Service

Question:

Whether the employer's share of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax on employee tip income must be determined by accumulating the result of individual audits of individual employees or may instead be based on a reasonable estimate of the aggregate amount of tips received by all employees.

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit, Filed: March 7, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 11, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 17, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Parties:
• Petitioner (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT]
• Respondent (Petition) [PDF]
• Petitioner - Reply (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT]
  
  
• Petitioner [PDF] [TEXT]
• Respondent [PDF] [WP]
  
  Amicus - Respondent:
• American Gaming Association [PDF] [MS-WORD]
• Patricia R. Guancial [PDF] [MS-WORD]
• National Restaurant Association [PDF] [MS-WORD]

Timothy Stuart Ring v. Arizona
No. 01-488

Subject:

Sixth Amendment, Sentencing, Death Penalty, Right to Jury Trial

Question:

Should Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639 (1990), be overruled in light of the Supreme Court's subsequent holding in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), making it an unconstitutional violation of a defendant's 6th Amendment right to a jury trial for a judge to consider in a capital sentencing hearing aggravating factors that the jury did not address at trial?

Decisions:

• Supreme Court of Arizona, Filed: June 20, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 11, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 24, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

• [Coming Soon]

Tuesday, April 23

City of Columbus, et al. v. Ours Garage and Wrecker Service, Inc., et al.
No. 01-419

Subject:

Interstate Commerce Act, Municipal Towing Ordinance, Supremacy Clause

Question:

Does 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c) of the Interstate Commerce Act permit cities to enact safety regulations regarding local tow-truck operations, as the 2nd Circuit and California Court of Appeals have held, or does it preempt such regulations, as the 5th, 6th, 9th and 11th Circuits have held? Does it matter that the municipality is acting as market participant?

Decisions:

• Petrey v. City of Toledo, 246 F.3d 548 (6th Cir. 2001).
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 6th Circuit, Filed: June 19, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 20, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Amicus - Petitioner:
• United States [PDF] [TEXT]
  
  Amicus - Respondent:
• Towing and Recovery Association of America [PDF]

Kay Barnes, etc., et al. v. Jeffrey Gorman
No. 01-682

Subject:

Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Punitive Damages, Eleventh Amendment, Municipal Immunity

Question:

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794(a), prohibits disability-based discrimination in any public program or activity receiving federal funds. Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12132, more generally prohibits disability-based discrimination in any public program, activity or service regardless of the receipt of federal funds. The question presented in this case is:

Whether the Eighth Circuit, in agreement with the Fourth Circuit but in conflict with the Third and Sixth Circuits, correctly held that punitive damages may be awarded against a municipal government in an implied private cause of action brought under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or Section 202 of the ADA.

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 8th Circuit, Filed: September 4, 1997
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 8th Circuit, Filed: August 20, 1998
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 8th Circuit, Filed: June 13, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 11, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 17, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Parties:
• Petitioner (Petition) [PDF]
• Petitioner - Reply (Petition) [PDF]
  
  
• Petitioner [PDF]
• Petitioner - Reply [PDF]

Wednesday, April 24

Gonzaga University and Roberta S. League v. John Doe
No. 01-679

Subject:

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Student Privacy, Sexual Assault

Question:

[Question Presented]

Decisions:

• Supreme Court of Washington, Filed: May 31, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 11, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 20, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

• [Coming Soon]

United States v. Angela Ruiz
No. 01-595

Subject:

Sentencing, "Fast Track" Program, Brady Rights

Question:

1. Whether before pleading guilty, a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to obtain exculpatory information, including impeachment material, from the government.
   
   
2. If so, whether that right may be waived through a plea agreement.

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit, Filed: March 5, 2001
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: January 4, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 24, 2002

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket

Briefs:

Parties:
• Petitioner (Petition) [PDF] [HTML]
• Petitioner - Reply (Petition) [PDF] [HTML]
  
  
• Petitioner [PDF] [HTML]