New term, more hot button issues for the Supreme Court to address

(This article originally ran in Lawyers Weekly USA, Boston, MA, another Dolan Media publication.)

Coming off a term that resulted in a significant amount of public criticism, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a number of contentious issues over the next nine months. Here is a brief look at the hot button cases:

What's Hot?

Abortion

Can anti-abortion protestors be sued under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for a coordinated effort to close down or disrupt abortion clinics with acts and threats of violence?

U.S. Supreme Court. Scheidler v. NOW, No. 04-1352, consolidated with Operation Rescue v. NOW, No. 04-1352. Certiorari granted June 28, 2005. Ruling below: 396 F.3d 807 (7th Cir. 2005).

Is a state statute that requires parental notification prior to the performance of an abortion on a minor and doesn't provide a health exception unconstitutionally overbroad?

U.S. Supreme Court. Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, No. 04-1144. Certiorari granted May 23, 2005. Ruling below: 390 F.3d 53 (1st Cir. 2004).

Assisted Suicide

Did the U.S. Attorney General exceed his authority when he declared that a state assisted suicide law violated the federal Controlled Substances Act?

U.S. Supreme Court. Gonzales v. Oregon, No. 04-623. Certiorari granted Feb. 22, 2005. Ruling below: 368 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2004).

Campus Recruiting

Does requiring colleges to allow military recruiters on campus or lose their federal funding violate the colleges' First Amendment rights?

U.S. Supreme Court. Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic Rights, No. 04- 1152. Certiorari granted May 2, 2005. Ruling below: 390 F.3d219 (3rd Cir. 2004).

Death Penalty

Was a decision by a state supreme court that a death penalty statute was unconstitutional adequately supported by grounds independent of federal law, or can the U.S. Supreme Court review the decision?

U.S. Supreme Court. Kansas v. Marsh, No. 04-1170. Certiorari granted May 31, 2005. Ruling below: 102 P.3d 445 (Kan. 2004).

During the penalty phase of a capital case, can the jury consider aggravating, mitigating and victim-impact evidence?

U.S. Supreme Court. Oregon v. Guzek, No. 04-928. Certiorari granted April 25, 2005. Ruling below: 86 P.3d 1106 (Or. 2004).

Religious Freedom

Did the federal government violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act when it seized hoasca, a hallucinogenic controlled substance, from a group that used it for religious tea ceremonies?

U.S. Supreme Court. Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegeta, No. 04-1084. Certiorari granted April 18, 2005. Ruling below: 389 F.3d 973 (10th Cir. 2005).

Other Cases Before the Court

Here's a summary of the other cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court for the 2005-2006 term:

ADA

Can counties and states be sued for damages by disabled prisoners under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act?

U.S. v. Georgia, No. 04-1203, consolidated with Goodman v. Georgia, No. 04-1236. Certiorari granted May 16, 2005. Rulings below: unpublished (11th Cir. 2004).

Antitrust

Can a vehicle dealer suing its distributor for antitrust violations prove a loss of profits by showing the distributor gave more favorable price concessions to other dealers?

Volvo Trucks North America, Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, Inc., No. 04-905. Certiorari granted March 7, 2005. Ruling below: 374 F.3d 701 (8th Cir. 2004).

Bankruptcy

Does the Bankruptcy Clause validly abrogate state sovereign immunity?

Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, 04-885. Certiorari granted April 4, 2005. Ruling below: 106 Fed.Appx. 341 (6th Cir. 2004).

Civil Procedure

If a case was wrongfully removed to federal court and subsequently remanded, are the plaintiffs entitled to attorney fees and expenses?

Martin v. Franklin Capital Corp., No. 04-1140. Certiorari granted April 25, 2005. Ruling below: 393 F.3d 1143 (10th Cir. 2004).

Where a party failed to renew a Rule 50(a) motion to dismiss after the jury returned a verdict, can it still appeal based on the sufficiency of the evidence?

Unitherm Food Systems, Inc. v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc., No. 04-597. Certiorari granted Feb. 28, 2005. Ruling below: 375 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2004).

Diversity Jurisdiction

Can an entity not named as a defendant be deemed a real party in interest to destroy complete diversity of citizenship in a case removed from state court? Is a limited partnership's citizenship determined by whether its business activities establish a very close nexus with a state or by the citizenship of its partners?

Lincoln Property Co. v. Roche, No. 04-712. Certiorari granted Feb. 28, 2005. Ruling below: 373 F.3d 610 (4th Cir. 2004).

Education Law

Does a school system bear the burden of proof when parents challenge the school's Individualized Education Program for a disabled child?

Schaffer v. Weast, No. 04-698. Certiorari granted Feb. 22, 2005. Ruling below: 377 F.3d 449 (4th Cir. 2004).

Employment

Does the failure to show that a defendant has 15 or more employees and thereby qualifies as an employer under Title VII deprive the federal courts of subject matter jurisdiction?

Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., No. 04-944. Certiorari granted May 16, 2005. Ruling below: 380 F.3d 219 (5th Cir. 2004).

Fair Labor Standards Act

Must employees be paid for the time they spend waiting at required safety equipment distribution stations and waiting to clock in?

IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez, No. 03-1238, consolidated with Tum v. Barber Foods, Inc., No. 04-66. Certiorari granted Feb. 22, 2005. Rulings below: 339 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2003); 360 F.3d 274 (1st Cir. 2004).

Habeas Corpus

Where a defendant delayed three years in filing a state habeas petition, was this unreasonable, such that the statute of limitations on the defendant's federal habeas petition was not tolled?

LaMarque v. Chavis, No. 04-721. Certiorari granted May 2, 2005. Ruling below: 382 F.3d 921 (9th Cir. 2004).

Were a defendant's Sixth and Eighth Amendment rights violated when he was convicted by a jury that did not contain a representative number of Hispanics and sentenced to death without the opportunity to present mitigating circumstances?

Brown v. Sanders, No. 04-980. Certiorari granted March 28, 2005. Ruling below: 373 F. 3d 1054 (9th Cir. 2004).

Indian Law

Can the state of Kansas collect taxes on fuel sold by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, but supplied by a non-Indian distributor?

Richards v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, No. 04-631. Certiorari granted Feb. 28, 2005. Ruling below: 379 F.3d 979 (10th Cir. 2004).

Qualified Immunity

Are a District Attorney's office and its employees immune from a suit by a former employee who claims his right to free speech was violated?

Garcetti v. Ceballos, No. 04-473. Certiorari granted Feb. 28, 2005. Ruling below: 361 F.3d 1168 (9th Cir. 2004).

Shareholder Suits

Can the sole shareholder of a company that owned a Domino's Pizza franchise sue Domino's for defamation and racial discrimination?

Domino's Pizza, Inc. v. McDonald, No. 04-593. Certiorari granted April 25, 2005. Ruling below: 107 Fed.Appx. 18 (9th Cir. 2004, unpublished).

Tort Claims Act

Are federal Mine Safety Health Administration personnel immune from suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act for allegedly failing to perform safety actions required by administration policies?

U.S. v. Olson, No. 04-759. Certiorari granted March 7, 2005. Ruling below: 362 F.3d 1236 (9th Cir. 2004).

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