Supreme Court Decision Syllabus (SCOTUS Podcast)
Following what the Supreme Court is actually doing can be daunting. Reporting on the subject is often only done within the context of political narratives of the day -- and following the Court's decisions and reading every new case can be a non-starter. The purpose of this Podcast is to make it as easy as possible for members of the public to source information about what is happening at the Supreme Court. For that reason, we read every Opinion Syllabus without any commentary whatsoever. Further, there are no advertisements or sponsors. We call it "information sourcing," and we hope that the podcast is a useful resource for members of the public who want to understand the legal issues of the day, prospective law students who want to get to know legal language and understand good legal writing, and attorneys who can use the podcast to be better advocates for their clients.
*Note this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.
Episodes
576 episodes
WEST VIRGINIA v. B. P. J. (Transgender Athletes, Title IX)
1. Title IX allows schools to provide separate women’s and men’s sports teams defined by biological sex, and West Virginia has permissibly maintained female sports for biological females consistent with Title IX.
TRUMP v. BARBARA (BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP)
Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) (Campaign Finance/Election Law)
In NRSC v. FEC the Supreme Court granted Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to answer the question of whether the limits imposed by th...
Trump v. Barbara (Birthright citizenship)
In Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court held that children born in the U.S. to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment, striking down Trump's executive order limiting birthright cit...
WATSON v. REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE (Absentee ballots and Election day statutes)
The federal election-day statutes do not prevent Mississippi from counting absentee ballots postmarked by election day but received up to five days thereafter; nothing in the federal election-day statutes requires ballots to be received b...
CHATRIE v. UNITED STATES (4a and Geofence Warrant for Google Location history)
Police officers conducted a Fourth Amendment search when they acquired Chatrie’s location data from Google because an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his cell-phone location information.
Trump v. Cook (For Cause Removal (Federal Reserve))
In Trump v. Cook, the Supreme Court denied the Government's application to stay an injunction reinstating Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whom President Trump had fired over alleged mortgage fraud predating her appointment. The Cou...
Trump v. Slaughter (For cause removal protection (non-Federal Reserve))
In Trump v. Slaughter, the Supreme Court held that the FTC's for-cause removal protection for its Commissioners violates the separation of powers, overruling Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) to the extent it survive...
Monsanto v. Durnell (Federal Preemption)
In Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, the Supreme Court held that FIFRA expressly preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim demanding a cancer warning on Roundup's label, since the EPA had approved the label without one and federal law requires...
MULLIN v. DOE (TPS/Immigration/Admin Law)
The TPS statute bars judicial review of non-constitutional claims.
Mullin v. Al Otro Lado (INA & Arriving in the United States)
In Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Supreme Court held that an alien standing in Mexico does not "arrive in the United States" within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act by attempting and failing to set foot in the country; a...
Blanche v. Lau (Immigration and Nationality Act)
In Blanche v. Lau, the Supreme Court held that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not require a border officer to have clear and convincing evidence that a lawful permanent resident has committed a crime involving moral turpitude...
WOLFORD v. LOPEZ (2nd Amendment and Hawaii)
Hawaii's rules about not allowing people to concealed carry on private property unless the owner posts consent is unconstitutional.
EXXON MOBIL CORP. v. CORPORACIÓN CIMEX, S. A. (CUBA & Helms-Burton Act lawsuits)
The Helms-Burton Act itself abrogates the sovereign immunity of Cuban agencies and instrumentalities
LANDOR v. LOUISIANA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS AND PUBLIC SAFETY (Spending Clause authority, RULIPA)
Individuals may not be held liable in their personal capacities under a Spending Clause statute unless those individuals have voluntarily and knowingly consented to answer lawsuits under the statute; because the individual defendants in t...
PUNG v. ISABELLA COUNTY (Tax Sale/Gvmt Forclosure/Takings)
The proper baseline for measuring “just compensation” following a tax sale is the auction sale price, not the property’s hypothetical fair market value, at least when the sale is fairly conducted in light of the country’s history of tax sales. ...
Cisco v. Doe (Alien Tort Statute & Torture Victim Protection Act)
The Supreme Court held that federal courts may no longer create new causes of action for violations of international law under the Alien Tort Statute, effectively closing the narrow door that Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain had left open...
McCarthy v. Hernandez (Habeas and Miranda)
In a per curiam decision, the Supreme Court summarily reversed the Second Circuit’s grant of federal habeas relief to Pedro Hernandez, who was convicted of kidnapping and felony murder in the 1979 disappearance and death of Etan Patz. The Secon...
T. M. v. University of Md. Medical System Corporation (RookerFeldman Doctrine)
We speak today to say...nothing has changed...
Hunter v. United States (Criminal law appeal waiver enforceability)
Because a criminal law appeal waiver must be both knowingly and voluntary a waiver of ineffective assistance of counsel is not really possible.
United States v. Hemani (Second Amendment)
The Supreme Court held that the government's prosecution of Ali Hemani under 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(3)'s prohibition on firearm possession by unlawful users of controlled substances violated the Second Amendment as applied to him. Justice Gorsuch, w...
FS Credit Opportunities Corp. v. Saba Capital Master Fund, Ltd. (Implied Rights of Action)
In a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court held that Section 47(b) of the Investment Company Act does not create an implied private right of action allowing investors or other private parties to sue for rescission of contracts that allegedly violate ...
Keathley v. Buddy Ayers Construction, Inc. (judicial estoppel
In a unanimous opinion by Justice Jackson, the Supreme Court vacated a Fifth Circuit decision that had barred Thomas Keathley’s personal-injury lawsuit under the doctrine of judicial estoppel after he failed to disclose the claim during his ong...
Abouammo v. United States (venue)
In a unanimous opinion by Justice Kagan, the Supreme Court held that a prosecution for falsifying a document in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1519 must be brought in the district where the falsification occurred, not where the federal investigation t...
Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Amarin Pharma Inc. (Patent infringement)
In a unanimous opinion by Justice Jackson, the Supreme Court held that Amarin failed to plausibly allege that Hikma actively induced infringement of Amarin’s patented cardiovascular-use methods for Vascepa. Although Hikma marketed a generic ver...