The High Court Report

Case Info: Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. | Date Decided: 2/26/25 | Case No. 23-900 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether an award of the "defendant's profits" under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), can include an order for the defendant to disgorge the distinct profits of legally separate non-party corporate affiliates. Holding: In awarding the “defendant’s profi...

Case Info: Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | Date Decided: 2/26/25 | Case No. 23-971 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether a Rule 41 voluntary dismissal without prejudice is a "final judgment, order, or proceeding" under Rule 60(b). Holding: A case voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under Rule 41(a) counts as a “final proceeding” under Rule 60(b). Result: Reversed an...

Case Info: Perttu v. Richards | Case No. 23-1324 | Date Argued: 2/25/25 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: 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? Oral Advocates: For petitioner: A...

Case Info: Esteras v. United States | Case No. 23-7483 | Date Argued: 2/25/25 Link to Docket: Here . Background: The supervised-release statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e), lists factors from 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) for a court to consider when sentencing a person for violating a supervised release condition. In that list, Congress omitted the factors set forth in section 3553(a)(2)(A)-the need for the sente...

Case Info: Lackey v. Stinnie | Date Decided: 2/25/25 | Case No. 23-621 Link to Docket: Here . Questions Presented: Whether a party must obtain a ruling that conclusively decides the merits in its favor, as opposed to merely predicting a likelihood of later success, to prevail on the merits under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. Whether a party must obtain an enduring change in the parties' legal relationship fro...

Case Info: Glossip v. Oklahoma | Date Decided: 2/25/25 | Case No. 22-7466 Link to Docket: Here . Questions Presented: Whether the State's suppression of the key prosecution witness's admission he was under the care of a psychiatrist and failure to correct that witness's false testimony about that care and related diagnosis violate the due process of law. Whether the entirety of the suppressed...

Case Info: Gutierrez v. Saenz | Case No. 23-7809 | Date Argued: 2/24/25 Link to Docket: Here . Background: In Reed v. Goertz, 598 U.S. 230 (2023), this Court held that Rodney Reed has standing to pursue a declaratory judgment that Texas's post-conviction DNA statute was unconstitutional because ''Reed suffered an injury in fact," the named defendant "caused Reed's injury," and if a federal court c...

Case Info: Williams v. Reed | Date Decided: 2/21/25 | Case No. 23-191 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether exhaustion of state administrative remedies is required to bring claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in state court. Holding: Where a state court’s application of a state exhaustion require­ment in effect immunizes state officials from §1983 claims challenging delays in the administra...

Case Info: Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Heath | Date Decided: 2/21/25 | Case No. 23-1127 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether reimbursement requests submitted to the E-rate program are "claims" under the False Claims Act. Holding: The E-Rate reimbursement requests at issue are “claims” under the False Claims Act because the Government “provided” (at a minimum) a “por...

Case Info: Hungary v. Simon | Date Decided: 2/21/25 | Case No. 23-867 Link to Docket: Here . Questions Presented: Whether historical commingling of assets suffices to establish that  proceeds of seized property have a commercial nexus with the United States under the  expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Whether a plaintiff must make out a valid claim that an...

Case Info: Cunningham v. Cornell University | Case No. 23-1007 | Date Argued: 1/22/25 Link to Docket: Here . Background: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a)(1) (C), prohibits a plan fiduciary from "engag[ing] in a transaction, if he knows or should know that such transaction constitutes a direct or indirect furnishing of goods, services, or facilities...

Case Info: Barnes v. Felix | Case No. 23-1239 | Date Argued: 1/22/25 | Date Decided: 5/15/25 Link to Docket: Here . Background: The Fourth Amendment prohibits a police officer from using "unreasonable" force. U.S. Const. amend. IV. In Graham v. Connor, this Court held that reasonableness depends on "the totality of the circumstances." 490 U.S. 386, 396 (1989) (quotation marks omitted). But four ci...

Case Info: FDA v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. | Case No. 23-1187 | Date Argued: 1/21/25 Link to Docket: Here . Background: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, Div. A, 123 Stat. 1776, requires a person to obtain authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before introducing a new tobacco product into interstate commerce. If FDA denies an application...

Case Info: McLaughlin Chiropractic Assoc. v. McKesson Corp. | Case No. 23-1226 | Date Argued: 1/21/25 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether the Hobbs Act required the district court in this case to accept the FCC's legal interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Holding: The Hobbs Act does not bind district courts in civil enforcement proceedings to an agency's interpre...

Case Info: TikTok Inc. v. Garland | Date Decided: 1/17/25 | Case No. 24–656 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, as applied to Petitioners, violates the First Amendment. Holding: The challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights. Result: Affirmed. Voting Breakdown: The Supreme Cour...

Case Info: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton | Case No. 23-1122 | Date Argued: 1/15/25 Link to Docket: Here . Background: This Court has repeatedly held that States may rationally restrict minors' access to sexual materials, but such restrictions must withstand strict scrutiny if they burden adults' access to constitutionally protected speech. See, e.g., Ashcroft v. ACLU, 542 U.S. 656, 663 (2004). I...

Case Info: Royal Canin U.S.A. v. Wullschleger | Date Decided: 1/15/25 | Case No. 23-677 Link to Docket: Here . Questions Presented: Whether such a post-removal amendment of the complaint defeats federal-question subject-matter jurisdiction. Whether such a post-removal amendment of the complaint precludes a district court from exercising supplemental jurisdiction over the plaintiffs remaining state...

Case Info: E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera | Date Decided: 1/15/25 | Case No. 23-217 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether the burden of proof that employers must satisfy to demonstrate the  applicability of an FLSA exemption is a mere preponderance of the evidence-as six  circuits hold-or clear and convincing evidence, as the Fourth Circuit alone holds. Holding: The preponder...

Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services | Case No. 23-971 | Date Argued: 1/14/25 | Date Decided: 2/26/25 Link to Docket: Here . Background: Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) empowers district courts, on just terms and under circumstances specified in that Rule, to "relieve a party or its legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding." Question Presented: Whether a Rule 41 vol...

Case Info: Thompson v. United States | Case No. 23-1095 | Date Argued: 1/14/25 | Date Decided: 3/21/25 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether 18 U.S.C. § 1014, which prohibits making a "false statement" for the purpose of influencing certain financial institutions and federal agencies, also prohibits making a statement that is misleading but not false. Holding: 18 U.S.C. § 1014, which...

Case Info: Hewitt v. United States | Case No. 23-1002 | Date Argued: 1/13/25 This case was consolidated with: Duffey V. United States, Case No. 23-1007. Link to Docket: Here . Background: The First Step Act (FSA) significantly reduced the mandatory minimum sentences for several federal drug and firearm offenses. First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115- 391, §§ 401, 403, 132 Stat. 5194, 5220-5222....

Case Info: Stanley v. City of Sanford | Case No. 23-997 | Date Argued: 1/13/25 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: 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? Hol...

Case Info: TikTok, Inc. v. Garland, Att'y Gen. | Case No. 24-656 | Date Argued: 1/10/25 | Date Decided: 1/17/25 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, as applied to Petitioners, violates the First Amendment. Holding: The challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights. Result: Affirmed...

Case Info: Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. | Case No. 23-900 | Date Argued: 12/11/24 | Date Decided: 2/26/25 Link to Docket: Here . Question Presented: Whether an award of the "defendant's profits" under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), can include an order for the defendant to disgorge the distinct profits of legally separate non-party corporate affiliates. Holding: In awardin...

Case Info: Seven County Coalition v. Eagle County | Case No. 23-975 | Date Argued: 12/10/24 Link to Docket: Here . Background: In Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen, 541 U.S. 752, 770 (2004), this Court held that when an agency cannot prevent an environmental effect "due to its limited statutory authority over the relevant actions," the National Environmental Policy Act does not requir...