FedSoc Forums

On February 3, 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously decided Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp and Republic of Hungary v. Simon. The plaintiffs in Federal Republic of Germany are heirs of German Jewish art collectors who purchased a collection of medieval relics termed the Welfenschatz. As the Third Reich took control of Germany and began assimilating the great cultural achievements of the West...

The DOJ has charged Douglas Mackey, aka Ricky Vaughn, with conspiracy “to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate” people in the exercise of their constitutional rights. His crime? Using his social media platform in the months leading up to November 2016 to post memes about the Presidential election, including ones that – if taken literally – falsely state that people coul...

On March 8, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski. Writing for the 8-justice majority, Justice Clarence Thomas explained that a completed violation of a legal right does in fact satisfy the redressability element necessary for Article III standing. Justice Kavanaugh filed a concurring opinion, while Chief Justice Roberts filed a dissenting opinion. John Bursch, head appella...

Apache Stronghold v. United States is an ongoing case involving religious land use. On February 18, 2021, a federal judge allowed the government's plans to swap a portion of Tonto National Forest for land owned by Resolution Copper. Inside the National Forest land is Oak Flat, a Native American sacred site. Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit organization that defends these sites, and the Becket Fund f...

In this case, Sierra Club, Inc. submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting biological impact reports that were made in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA had planned to construct “cooling water intake structures” and in compliance with the Clean Water Act consulted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife on the question of biological impact. Citing FO...

In Pereida v. Wilkinson, the Supreme Court held 5-3 that an individual seeking relief from a lawful removal order under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) must “shoulder [the] heavy burden” of proving every element of eligibility for relief including the absence of a conviction for a crime of moral turpitude. Clemente Avelino Pereida argued on appeal that although he was recently convicted...

In Lange v. California, defendant Arthur Lange challenges the application of the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment in California state court arguing exigent circumstances should apply only in genuine emergencies – not where the police are in hot pursuit following a misdemeanor traffic violation. Lange argues the evidence supporting his DUI arr...

In Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and the consolidated case of Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee, the Supreme Court will address issues raised under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Fifteenth Amendment. Under Section 2, which restates and expands the protections of the Fifteenth Amendment, "no voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard,...

On March 3, 2021, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Carr v. Saul. This case involves important constitutional questions of appointments and officer status. Specifically, the case deals with the question of whether a claimant seeking disability benefits under the Social Security Act forfeits an Appointments Clause challenge to the appointment of an administrative law judge by failing to...

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in United States v. Arthrex Inc. on March 1, 2021. This case is an important one for the office of patent judges. At issue in the case is whether, for purposes of the Appointments Clause, administrative patent judges of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are principal officers, requiring presidential appointment and Senate confirmation, or a...

On February 25, 2021, The Federalist Society's Practice Groups and In-House Counsel Working Group hosted a lively panel on Law and Corporate Social Responsibility. With the start of the 2021 proxy season, the period when many public companies hold their annual shareholder meetings and consider proxy proposals, it seems timely to revisit the discussion around Milton Friedman’s essay, “The Social Re...

The Institute for Justice (IJ) has filed a petition for certiorari in Serrano v. CPB, asking the Court: “When the government seizes a vehicle for civil forfeiture, does due process require a prompt post-seizure hearing to test the legality of the seizure and continued detention of the vehicle pending the final forfeiture trial?” As Gerardo Serrano was driving his Ford F-250 truck across the U.S.-M...

The Federalist Society's Corporations, Securities & Antitrust Practice Group and Regulatory Transparency Project was pleased to host this fireside discussion between Mr. Bilal Sayyed, most-recently Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Office of Policy Planning, and Svetlana Gans, Vice President and Associate General Counsel at NCTA and former chief of staff at the FTC. They discussed the...

The Federalist Society hosts Prof. Beth Van Schaack and Mr. John Bellinger for a discussion about the current treatment of Turkic Muslim civilians by the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), under a policy that the PRC describes as a counter-terrorism campaign but that others have described as a genocide. Prof. Van Schaack is the Acting Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Stanford...

On February 8, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996, the most significant revision of the Communications Act since its enactment in 1934. In the 1996 Act’s preamble, Congress declared the statute’s purpose “to promote competition and reduce regulation.” And the conference report accompanying the law stated it was intended “to provide for a pro-co...

The Federalist Society's Intellectual Property Practice Group is pleased to host this panel discussion on the elimination of the injunction presumption by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in eBay v. MercExchange (2006), and what impact this decision has had on the patent system, especially with respect to the concepts of “efficient infringement,” patent-owner leverage (or lack thereof) and the in...

During the last weeks of the Trump Administration’s Treasury Department, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) unveiled a rule that received more comments than any other proposal in FinCen’s history. Over seven thousand commentors weighed in, despite only a 15-day comment-period stretching over the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays. The proposed rule would impose certain Bank Secre...

This teleforum will address the upcoming Eleventh Circuit en banc argument in United States v. Brown, which concerns whether a juror may be removed from a deliberating jury because he prayed for and believed he received the Holy Spirit's guidance in considering the evidence. A district court found that a juror who did so could be removed from service and an Eleventh Circuit panel affirmed the deci...

This teleforum will discuss in detail the various provisions contained in the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act The Act, which increases worker rights, passed the House in last Congress and is expected to be reconsidered in the new Congress. This teleforum will discuss the Act and potential strategies to be utilized by the Biden administration to obtain passage of the PRO Act. Featuring:...

The Fourteenth Amendment is now over 150 years old. The Supreme Court has long rejected interpreting that Amendment with its original meaning. But what would an originalist interpretation of the Amendment look like? Would it be unworkable for modern problems? In this teleforum, Profs. Steven Calabresi and Ilan Wurman will discuss Wurman's new book The Second Founding: An Introduction to the Fourte...

ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(g) holds it misconduct for an attorney to “engage in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination” in connection with the practice of law. Scholars have criticized the Rule as chilling speech on matters of public concern and unlawful viewpoint discrimination; several state attorneys general concluded...

On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Federal Communications Commission v. Prometheus Radio Project, an important case involving issues of media ownership. Specifically, the Court will decide whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit erred in vacating as arbitrary and capricious the Federal Communications Commission orders under review, which relaxed the...

After living in relative obscurity since its passage in 1996, the Congressional Review Act caught the nation’s attention in 2017 when a Republican-led Congress and newly-elected President Trump used it to overturn 14 “midnight” regulations issued at the end of the Obama administration. Some prominent Democratic lawmakers opposed the CRA’s framework as well as its individual...

While China is the paramount strategic priority for the United States, the Middle East remains a region of significance for U.S. national security interests. The Trump administration prioritized pressure on Iran, efforts to reduce the number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Syria, and good relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The incoming Biden administration is expected to continue some...

Following a year of disruptions not seen in generations: a global pandemic, economic crisis, social unrest, and a divisive political season, Americans are looking for a better way. In his new book, Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World, co-authored with Charles Koch, Stand Together Chairman & CEO Brian Hooks makes the case that this starts in the places and with people you ma...