Supreme Court Opinions

In this case, the court considered this issue: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, does a former employee — who was qualified to perform her job and who earned post-employment benefits while employed — lose her right to sue over discrimination with respect to those benefits solely because she no longer holds her job? The case was decided on June 20, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the Ame...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment? The case was decided on June 20, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the PSJVTA’s personal jurisdiction provision does not violate the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because the statute reasonably ties jurisdiction over the P...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Do the fuel producers have Article III standing to challenge the EPA's approval of California regulations that require automakers to manufacture more electric vehicles and fewer gasoline-powered vehicles? The case was decided on June 20, 2025. The Supreme Court held that fuel producers have Article III standing to challenge EPA’s approval of Calif...

In this case, the court considered this issue: When revoking supervised release and imposing a prison sentence, may a district court consider the sentencing factors in 18 U-S-C § 3553(a)(2)(A)—namely, “the seriousness of the offense,” “promoting respect for the law,” and “just punishment”—even though these factors are not explicitly referenced in the supervised release statute? The case was decide...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does the Hobbs Act require a federal district court to accept the Federal Communication Commission’s legal interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act? The case was decided on June 20, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the Hobbs Act does not preclude judicial review of an agency's statutory interpretation in district court enforcement...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does a Tennessee law restricting certain medical treatments for transgender minors violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment? The case was decided on June 18, 2025.    The Supreme Court held that Tennessee’s law prohibiting certain medical treatments for transgender minors is not subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protectio...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Can retailers who would sell a new tobacco product seek judicial review of the FDA’s denial of a manufacturer’s marketing application under the Tobacco Control Act? The case was decided on June 20, 2025.  The Supreme Court held that the Tobacco Control Act’s provision that “any person adversely affected” by the FDA’s denial of a marketing application...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Should challenges by small oil refineries seeking exemptions from the requirements of the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard program be heard exclusively in the U-S Court of Appeals for the D-C Circuit because the agency’s denial actions are “nationally applicable” or “based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect”? The case was decided...

In this case, the court considered this issue: In cases subject to the Prison Litigation Reform Act, do prisoners have a right to a jury trial concerning their exhaustion of administrative remedies where disputed facts regarding exhaustion are intertwined with the underlying merits of their claim? The case was decided on June 18, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the Seventh Amendment requires a j...

In this case, the court considered these issues: 1. Can a nonparty challenge a federal agency’s “final order” under the Hobbs Act’s judicial review provision?  2. Do federal nuclear laws allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license private companies to store spent nuclear fuel at off-reactor sites? The case was decided on June 18, 2025. The Supreme Court held that a facility to store spent n...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia have exclusive jurisdiction to review an Environmental Protection Agency action that affects only one state or region, simply because the EPA published that action alongside actions affecting other states in a single Federal Register notice? The case was decided on June 18, 2025. The Supreme...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(2) apply to all second habeas petitions, or only specific types of second petitions? The case was decided on June 12, 2025. The Supreme Court held that when a district court enters judgment on a first federal habeas petition, any subsequent habeas filing qualifies as a “second or successive application” subject to the strict r...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does a proceeding under 26 U-S-C § 6330 for a pre-deprivation determination about a levy proposed by the Internal Revenue Service to collect unpaid taxes become moot when there is no longer a live dispute over the proposed levy that gave rise to the proceeding? The case was decided on June 12, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the Tax Court lacks juri...

In this case, the court considered this issue: When disabled combat veterans claim past-due compensation, should the military use the CRSC statute's rules to calculate how far back they can be paid, or should it use the Barring Act's six-year limit? The case was decided on June 12, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the statute that provides combat-related special compensation (CRSC) to dis...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Must a party who files a notice of appeal during the period between when their original appeal deadline expired and when the court reopens their time to appeal file a second notice after the reopening is granted? The case was decided on June 12, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure require a timely-filed notice of...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Do the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require children with disabilities to satisfy a “bad faith or gross misjudgment” standard when seeking relief for discrimination relating to their education? The case was decided on June 12, 2025. The Supreme Court held that Schoolchildren bringing claims related to their ed...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Must plaintiffs prove minimum contacts before federal courts may assert personal jurisdiction over foreign states sued under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act? The case was decided on June 5, 2025. The Supreme Court ruled that the FSIA itself provides the sole basis for asserting personal jurisdiction over foreign states and their instrumentalities...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does a state violate the First Amendment’s religion clauses by denying a religious organization an otherwise-available tax exemption because the organization does not meet the state’s criteria for religious behavior? The case was decided on June 5, 2025.  In a unanimous decision on June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Catholic Charities Burea...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6)’s stringent standard apply to a post-judgment request to vacate for the purpose of filing an amended complaint? The case was decided on June 5, 2025. The Supreme Court held that Relief under Rule 60(b)(6) requires extraordinary circumstances, and this standard does not become less demanding when the movant...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does a plaintiff who belongs to a majority group need to demonstrate “background circumstances suggesting that the defendant is the unusual employer who discriminates against the majority” in order to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? The case was decided on June 5, 2025. The Supreme Court...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Can U.S. gun manufacturers be held liable for violence in Mexico under theories of proximate causation and aiding and abetting, based on their domestic production and sale of firearms that are later trafficked to Mexican cartels? The case was decided on June 5, 2025. In a unanimous decision on June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ame...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Does the National Environmental Policy Act require an agency to study environmental impacts beyond the proximate effects of the action over which the agency has regulatory authority? The case was decided on May 29, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to consider the environmental eff...

In this case, the court considered this issue: Can deception to induce a commercial exchange constitute mail or wire fraud, even if inflicting economic harm on the alleged victim was not the object of the scheme? The case was decided on May 22, 2025. The Supreme Court held that the fraudulent-inducement theory is consistent with the federal wire fraud statute, 18 U-S-C §1343, and does not require...

Welcome to Supreme Court Opinions. In this episode, you’ll hear the Court’s opinion in A.A.R.P. v Trump.   The case was decided on May 16, 2025. To summarize, the President invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) to remove Venezuelan nationals identified as members of the Tren de Aragua (T-d-a), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Two detainees, along with a putative class of similarly situat...

Welcome to Supreme Court Opinions. In this episode, you’ll hear the Court’s opinion in Barnes v Felix.      In this case, the court considered this issue: Should courts apply the “moment of the threat” doctrine when evaluating an excessive force claim under the Fourth Amendment? The case was decided on May 15, 2025.  In Barnes v Felix, the Supreme Court rejected the “moment-of-threat” doctrine whe...