South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364 (decided July 6, 1976): no warrant needed to search car impounded because illegally parked; cars are not “houses” (Fourth Amendment) and diminished expectation of privacy; marijuana found during permissible “inventory” Chiafalo v. Washington, 591 U.S. 578 (decided July 6, 2020): a state can fine “faithless elector” who does not vote according to instructions laid down by state legislature (State of Washington went for Hillary Clinton in

United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (decided July 5, 1984): evidence (here, drugs) can be presented at trial despite bad warrant if warrant was facially valid and police relied on it in good faith; warrant found not based on probable cause but purpose of exclusionary rule (to deter police misconduct) didn’t apply Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (decided July 5, 1983): use of government funds to pay Nebraska legislature’s chaplain did not violate Establishment Clause (all he d

In re Lewis, 418 U.S. 1301 (decided July 4, 1974): Douglas releases Will Lewis, San Francisco radio station manager, who had been jailed for contempt and spent 19 days in solitary confinement; Lewis had given copies of recordings (from the Weather Underground relative to a shootout with police by the Symbionese Liberation Army) to FBI but refused to deliver originals; Douglas cites First Amendment concerns, pending decision on appeal (Lewis lost, 501 F.2d 418, decided to fina

FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (decided July 3, 1978): George Carlin’s “seven dirty words” broadcast on WBAI in New York at 2 p.m.; Court upholds FCC’s reprimand despite First Amendment concerns; possibly would have been different result if broadcast at night (I listened to ’BAI in those years and they would talk about the incident regularly, though not mentioning the actual words) (“she was working for the friends of ’BAI” -- anyone remember that song?) Webster v.

Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (decided July 2, 1976): death penalty is ok if rendered by jury in separate sentencing phase with established aggravating and mitigating factors and appellate review provided as to disproportionality (in a sense overruling Furman v. Georgia, 1972) Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325 (decided July 2, 1976): (citing Gregg) death penalty unconstitutional if mandatory for certain crimes Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (decided July 2, 1976): Florid

Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, 473 U.S. 432 (decided July 1, 1985): Equal Protection violated by refusing to grant permit to build group home for intellectually disabled (rational basis review; this holding was largely codified by 1988 Fair Housing Act amendment that added people with mental disabilities to list of protected persons) Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, 594 U.S. 647 (decided July 1, 2021): Voting Rights Act not violated by new laws barring ballot c

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, 573 U.S. 682 (decided June 30, 2014): for-profit corporation is a “person” and if closely held can refuse under Religious Freedom Restoration Act to obey regulation (Affordable Care Act’s requirement to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives) New York Times v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (decided June 30, 1971): First Amendment allowed printing of “The Pentagon Papers” (McNamara’s secret history of the Vietnam War) despite Espionage Act b

Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (decided June 29, 1992): Pennsylvania statute requiring spousal notice for abortion placed “undue burden” on woman; left in place requirement of waiting period and parental consent for minors Ashcroft v. ACLU, 535 U.S. 564 (decided June 29, 2004): enjoined on First Amendment grounds enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act which penalized providers that allowed minors to access “harmful content”; injunction ended up being perman

McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (decided June 28, 2010): Second Amendment right identified as to federally administrated areas in District of Columbia v. Heller, 2008, also applied to states (i.e., incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment) National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (decided June 28, 2012): upheld the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for everyone to buy insurance as exercise of Congress’s taxing power (which can be used to pro

Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, 579 U.S. 582 (decided June 27, 2016): strikes down Texas rule that doctors performing abortions have privileges at local hospitals (pretext to make it hard for abortion clinics to obtain doctors) and requiring clinics to meet standards of ambulatory surgery centers (irrelevant) as placing “undue burden” on women inconsistent with Roe (probably no longer good law after Dobbs) Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. 507 (decided June

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (decided June 26, 2015): bans on same-sex marriage violate Equal Protection (ruling on various cases involving adoption laws, issuing of marriage licenses, etc.) Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (decided June 26, 2003): Texas statute prohibiting same-sex genital contact struck down as violating Due Process clause (of course it was a gay male couple getting arrested; lesbians were hardly ever bothered); overrules Bowers v. Hardwick, 1986, noti

Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (decided June 25, 2013): preclearance provisions of Voting Rights Act of 1965 can no longer be enforced until Congress comes up with new racial discrimination data (data was 40 years old) (immediately after this decision, Republican states formerly under preclearance enacted various voting restrictions) Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (decided June 25, 1962): prohibits school-led prayer in public schools as violating First Amendment Establi

“Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin I”, 570 U.S. 297 (decided June 24, 2013): all race based factors in college admissions are subject to “strict scrutiny”; remands the question of university’s admissions policy to be reconsidered by the Fifth Circuit (which had merely accepted race factors if made “in good faith”); Fifth Circuit approved the policy (in which race was “a factor of a factor of a factor” in multi-step evaluation) and Court affirmed in “Fisher v. University

Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (decided June 23, 2005): eminent domain power can be used to condemn homeowners’ property and sell to private nonprofit for office space, parking lots etc. as part of downtown revitalization (was the compensation paid to Ms. Kelo and her neighbors the same as was billed to the New London Development Corporation?) Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., 594 U.S. 180 (decided June 23, 2021): First Amendment prohibits school from punishing

Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (decided June 22, 1964): The obscenity case wherein Potter Stewart says, “I know it when I see it.” He is referring to “hard-core pornography”. At issue was a 1958 French film called “Les Amants” (“The Lovers”), which you can see here, www. youtube.com/watch?v=_W Mb1V4bhA8. There’s no nudity or sex, though at 49:08 we see the lovers waking up in bed. Maybe the supposed obscenity is in the dialog -- I don’t know French. The film seems set

Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (decided June 21, 1971): federal officials can be sued for violation of Constitutional rights (just as state officials can be under 42 U.S.C. §1983) (these are now called “Bivens” actions) (here, FBI agents, improper drug search) (later held not applicable when border security involved, see Hernandez, February 25, and Egbert v. Boule, 2022) Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (decided June 21, 1989): struck down on First Amendment g

Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (decided June 20, 2002): executing intellectually disabled people (I think that’s the term for it now) is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of Eighth Amendment (overruling Penry v. Lynaugh, 1989, citing “evolving standards of decency” and the trend of states outlawing the death penalty in such cases) (defendant, convicted of armed robbery and murder, had an IQ of 59) Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735 (decided June 20, 1979): attaching an

Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (decided June 19, 1961): exclusionary rule for evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment applies to state prosecutions as well as federal (police improperly searching for evidence related to bombing found obscene materials instead; Ms. Mapp, once engaged to the boxer Archie Moore, had a colorful life) New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (decided June 19, 1992): New York’s Tenth Amendment challenge against the United States (not an o

Walker v. Sons of Confederate Veterans, 576 U.S. 200 (decided June 18, 2015): Texas can refuse request to put Confederate flag on license plate; it’s “government speech” and government can determine content Allen Bradley Co. v. Local Union No. 3 Teamsters, 325 U.S. 797 (decided June 18, 1945): Sherman Act violated by union and employers working in concert to exclude competition (here, electrical workers and manufacturers excluding out of state manufacturers outside union’s ge

Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, 593 U.S. 522 (decided June 17, 2021): Free Exercise Clause prevents City from requiring placement agencies (including Catholic ones) to accept same sex couples for foster care program (for years I defended Catholic placement agencies and this is one of many places where people “on the ground” disagree with Church teaching; the open secret is that the Church’s official opposition to same-sex unions is by now practically a laughingstock to its ow