Attorney RJ Dieken, Loki Esq Law, Montana

Supreme Court Decision Syllabus (SCOTUS Podcast)

Government EN ↓ 576 episodes

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 p...

Author

Attorney RJ Dieken, Loki Esq Law, Montana

Episodes

Percoco v. United States (Jury Instructions) 15.05.2023 9:16

Send us Fan Mail In Percoco v. United States, the Supreme Court considered whether a private citizen with influence over government decision-making can be convicted for wire fraud on the theory that he or she deprived the public of its “intangible right of honest services.” Joseph Percoco, former Executive Deputy Secretary to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, was charged with conspiracy to commit ho...

Santos-Zacaria v. Garland (Immigration / Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies) 14.05.2023 8:43

Send us Fan Mail In Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, the Supreme Court reviewed two questions. First, whether §1252(d)(1) is jurisdictional; and second, whether a non-citizen is required to request reconsideration of an adverse board action to fully exhaust administrative remedies under the law. HELD: Santos-Zacaria is correct and the Fifth Circuit was incorrect to find that §1252(d)(1) is jurisdictiona...

Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States (Foreign Immunity) 08.05.2023 8:14

Send us Fan Mail Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. (Halkbank) vs. the United States involves the criminal prosecution against Halkbank for evading American economic sanctions against Iran. Halkbank claims immunity, as an instrumentality of a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA). The Supreme Court held that the District Court has jurisdiction over this criminal prosecuti...

MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC (Bankruptcy Jurisdiction) 08.05.2023 9:01

Send us Fan Mail Section 363(m) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is not a jurisdictional provision. Courts should not construe a statute to be jurisdictional unless clearly stated. A jurisdictional provisions puts a limit on the jurisdiction of federal courts. Guest recorded by Jeff Barnum. Support the show

Wilkins v. United States (Quiet Title Act) 08.05.2023 8:33

Send us Fan Mail In Wilkins v. United States, the Supreme Court addressed a dispute between property owners in rural Montana and the government regarding a road easement. The government claimed that the easement included public access, while the property owners disagreed. The property owners sued the government under the Quiet Title Act, but the government argued that their claim was barred by a 1...

New York v. New Jersey (Interstate Compact) 03.05.2023 4:43

Send us Fan Mail New York and New Jersey entered into a compact in 1953 to establish the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor to conduct regulatory and law enforcement activities at the Port, and in 2018, New Jersey sought to withdraw from the Compact, resulting in New York filing a bill of complaint in this Court. HELD: Despite New York's opposition, New Jersey is permitted to withdraw f...

Axon Enterprises v. FTC (Administrative Jurisdiction) 02.05.2023 12:34

Send us Fan Mail Michelle Cochran and Axon Enterprise each filed a federal district court lawsuit, challenging the constitutionality of the agency proceedings against them in separate enforcement actions initiated in the SEC and the FTC. Both suits were initially dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, but the Fifth Circuit disagreed as to the SEC question, finding that Cochran's claim would not...

Luna Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools (ADA in Public Schools) 02.05.2023 6:23

Send us Fan Mail Miguel Luna Perez, a deaf student who attended schools in Michigan's Sturgis Public School District, was denied graduation. his family filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Education claiming that the district failed to provide him with a free and appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The parties reached a settl...

Delaware v. Pennsylvania (Unclaimed Property) 27.04.2023 9:48

Send us Fan Mail The Disposition of Abandoned Money Orders and Traveler's Checks Act requires that abandoned property from a "money order . . . or other similar written instrument," be returned to the state where the property was purchased. This rule is different from the common law, which requires that unclaimed property be returned to the state of incorporation, not the state of p...

Bartenwerfer v. Buckley (Bankruptcy) 27.04.2023 7:57

Send us Fan Mail In Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, the Supreme Court held that the discharge exceptions under Section 523(a)(2)(a) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code apply to an individual debtor, regardless of said debtor's culpability in the fraud. Recorded by Jake Leahy. Bartenwerfer v. Buckley Support the show

Bittner v. United States (Bank Secrecy Act) 27.04.2023 11:16

Send us Fan Mail Bittner, was required to file reports under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). In 2004, Congress amended the law to create a penalty for the non-willful failure to file certain reports pertaining to foreign bank accounts. After filing reports, Bittner was assessed penalties for over fifty accounts that he had failed to report over several years. The Secretary of the Treasury assessed a p...

Helix Energy v. Hewitt (Overtime pay) 24.04.2023 13:10

Send us Fan Mail In Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., et al. v. Hewitt, the Supreme Court ruled that an employee paid a daily rate does not qualify for an exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime pay requirements, unless they satisfy the conditions set out in Section 541.604(b). Michael Hewitt, a former employee of Helix, sued his employer claiming overtime pay under FLSA, as...

Cruz v. Arizona (Post conviction) 24.04.2023 8:20

Send us Fan Mail Cruz v. Arizona is a case heard by the US Supreme Court that questioned whether the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling was an adequate ground to preclude review of a federal question. The petitioner, John Montenegro Cruz, was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death, and argued that under Simmons v. South Carolina, he should have been allowed to inform the jury that...

Reed v Goertz (Post conviction relief) 24.04.2023 8:51

Send us Fan Mail Rodney Reed was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death in Texas. He filed a motion under Texas's post-conviction DNA testing law, requesting DNA testing on certain evidence, which he believed would help identify the true perpetrator. The state trial court denied Reed's motion, citing an inadequate chain of custody for the evidence he sought to test. Reed then sued...

Arellano v. McDonough (Equitable tolling of veteran benefits) 24.04.2023 8:22

Send us Fan Mail In Arellano v. McDonough, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Section 5110(b)(1) of the Veterans' Benefits Act is not subject to equitable tolling. The case involves the effective date of an award of disability compensation to a veteran of the United States military. Adolfo Arellano applied to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for disability compensation b...

Fed Election Coms’n v Ted Cruz (Free Speech/Campaign loan repayment) 16.08.2022 12:27