October
in Supreme Court History
October 1
United States v. Peck, 102 U.S. 64 (decided October 1, 1880): parol evidence (i.e., evidence outside the four corners of the contract) admissible to show that contract for providing wood and hay to army contemplated that hay would be cut in the area (supplier was unable to do that and government had others provide it from far away and charged him for the extra expense)
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United States v. Carll, 105 U.S. 611 (decided October 1, 1881): can’t convict someone passing a counterfeit currency when the indictment didn’t mention that he knew it was counterfeit
October 2
Matter of Disbarment of Maddox, 516 U.S. 802 (decided October 2, 1995): I’m an obscure, unsuccessful lawyer and former crisis center director who has never rubbed shoulders with anyone who touched the Court, with this one (literal) exception. In 1987 Alton Maddox was one of the trio of people (with fellow lawyer C. Vernon Mason, and Al Sharpton) who represented a black teenager named Tawana Brawley, who allegedly was gang raped by police officers in a small town near my crisis center. The three kept bleating in the media about wanting justice but would not allow her to be interviewed by any prosecutor so that evidence could be gathered and charges brought. It was a fraud that caused lasting damage to race relations — crying about injustice yet not allowing it to be righted, which unfortunately served the proto-”antiracism” crowd just fine. Eventually one could deduce that the three had realized that Tawana had fabricated her story and, having painted themselves into a corner, could not admit it. Instead they kept defaming the officers by name. Sharpton, now a commentator on MSNBC, has never owned up to it, which is why I still can’t watch him.
The fallout included Maddox getting disbarred, and I was in the Appellate Division on another case when his state disbarment proceeding was being argued. I did not know it was going to happen. Unusually, the seats began to fill (with black people). I was near the front, and Maddox came in and sat right next to me!! It was weird, just he and I in the middle of a bunch of empty seats. I looked back to the crowd and said to him, “They must think I support you.” He said, “Do you?” I thought for a second and said, “I wish you the best.” His case got heard, I forget the details, but my case was next. Everyone left as I got up to speak and I made a little joke about nobody wanting to hear me.
I often think of what I could have done. He was probably in a hothouse atmosphere, surrounded by layers of yes-people, with no one around he could really open up to. My crisis center persona had reclaimed me. Maybe I could have said, “I think there’s a reason you sat next to me,” and given him my business card, and put my home phone number on it, and said, “You can call me any night. I won’t tell anyone. Your name is Sam.”
October 3
Clark v. Hancock, 94 U.S. 493 (decided October 3, 1876): Court can dismiss a non-jurisdictional case without having to wait for the return date (Waite points out that petitioner admitted there was no federal issue and relied on prior practice where one had to wait for the return date — what was the point? was there oral argument on cert petitions in those days? what did petitioner’s attorney want? he knew he would get a chilly reception — maybe to admire the curtains?)
In re Disbarment of Kristan Peters-Hamlin, 137 S.Ct. 287 (decided October 3, 2016): she had altered deposition transcripts, and copied them for use in another case in violation of confidentiality order; later appeared on CNN as a “former federal prosecutor” opining on the Mueller investigation
October 4
Buntion v. Lumpkin,142 S.Ct. 3 (decided October 4, 2021): stay of execution denied; Breyer doesn’t dissent but notes the “serious legal and practical problem with the death penalty as it is currently administered”; in 1890 the Court said waiting on death row for even four weeks was “one of the more horrible feelings to which a person can be subjected”, and Buntion had been on death row for 30 years, which is in itself cruel and unusual punishment (Buntion, age 78 and infirm, wasn’t executed for another six months due to illness; his murder of cop was revenge for death of his twin brother during a police shootout)
October 5
Maryland v. Kulbicki,136 S.Ct. 2 (decided October 5, 2015): Court grants cert, reverses Maryland high court, and dismisses ineffective assistance of counsel claim; method of comparing lead in bullets in defendant’s truck vs. in victim’s brain relied on by prosecution was later discredited but was still state of the art at time of conviction
October 6
Lopez v. Smith, 574 U.S. 1 (decided October 6, 2014): Court grants cert and upholds state murder conviction where prosecution switched theories at end of trial (defendant aided and abetted murder of wife instead of directly wielding metal bar that killed her); Ninth Circuit had relied on its own precedent, which prohibited such practices, in granting habeas, but 1996 statute restricting habeas only to where state court misapplied federal law refers only to federal law established by the Court (which has been silent on this issue) (this strikes me as odd; Thomas, who wrote the opinion, seems to be saying only SCOTUS can declare federal law — but if a federal law issue is totally settled and universally accepted, it might never have gotten considered by SCOTUS because no one bothered to litigate it, or there never was a split of authority for the Court to resolve)
October 7
Doe v. Gonzalez, 546 U.S. 1301 (decided October 7, 2005): Ginsburg denies emergency stay because appeal in Second Circuit is being expedited, but grants motion to file briefs under seal; discusses the case at length; librarian contested FBI order to disclose browsing history associated with a certain IP address which also ordered him not to reveal order or reveal his identity; issue was whether this prior restraint (authorized by statute) violated First Amendment; identity had already been inadvertently revealed by District Court web site and PACER (case was dismissed as moot, 449 F.3d 415)
October 8
Nebraska v. Wyoming et al., 325 U.S. 665 (decided October 8, 1945): Original jurisdiction case where the Court confirms the Special Master’s finding in favor of Nebraska as to Colorado and Wyoming diverting too much of the North Platte River before it gets into Nebraska. From the finding, which is detailed as to how much can be diverted when and from where, and how it is to be measured, one can see that the Special Master was bombarded with a mountain of geological and environmental evidence.
Roth v. United States, 77 S.Ct. 17 (decided October 8, 1956): Harlan allows bail ($5,000) for defendant convicted of selling dirty pictures; no claim that he might flee, or continue to pollute the minds of the public, and good chance that conviction will be overturned (though the Court, in one of Brennan’s first opinions, affirmed the conviction, 354 U.S. 476, which the Court overruled in Miller v. California, 1973) (the book at issue, “American Aphrodite”, is available online; like a lot of “obscene” publications from that era, it reads like it was written by bright 14-year-old boys who have never seen a naked woman)
October 9
Pilon v. Bordenkircher, 444 U.S. 1 (decided October 9, 1979): Court, relying on its own recent precedent, reverses the denial of habeas and remands back to District Court; after state court conviction for manslaughter, lower court applied former standard for violation of Due Process (reversing only if there is “no evidence in support of conviction”); new, more defendant-friendly standard is whether if “after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt”
Agoston v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 340 U.S. 844 (decided October 9, 1950): denying cert in murder case; Frankfurter in support writes to emphasize that denying cert does not mean the Court is affirming the decision below; Douglas and Black dissent, pointing out that this case is similar to a recent case where the Court had overturned conviction on Due Process grounds (Turner v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 338 U.S. 62) (in that pre-Miranda case, appearance before magistrate was delayed until confession had been obtained by police after “prolonged questioning”)
October 10
Lucy v. Adams, 350 U.S. 1 (decided October 10, 1955): Court reinstates injunction, meaning that University of Alabama can’t deny two black students admission; District Court had found that sole basis for denying entry was skin color; Ms. Lucy had been trying for three years to get in; she was still excluded from dorms and dining halls; riot broke out when she actually showed up and, being pelted with bricks and eggs and death threats, she was suspended for her own safety; University then expelled her for being litigious (!) and she moved out of state, at first staying with Thurgood Marshall’s (her lawyer’s) family in New York; returned to the University and got her degree there in 1992
Montanans for a Balanced Federal Budget Committee v. Harper, 469 U.S. 1301 (decided October 10, 1984): Rehnquist refuses to overrule the Montana Supreme Court which had held that placing a “Balanced Federal Budget” initiative on the ballot violated the state constitution (it would have directed the state legislature to apply to Congress for a convention to consider a balanced budget amendment; one assumes the Montana court believed it would usurp the power of the legislature)
United States ex rel. Skinner & Eddy Corp. v. McCarl, 275 U.S. 1 (decided October 10, 1927): shipping corporation created during World War I isn’t a United States entity (even though created by statute and the U.S. held all its stock) and therefore company about to get sued by it can’t get Comptroller General to rule on setoff; Brandeis, who wrote the opinion, points out that such corporations are an “instrumentality of the Government” but are formed so that they can be free to “employ commercial methods and to conduct their operations with a freedom supposed to be inconsistent with accountability to the Treasury under its established procedure of audit and control over the financial transactions of the United States” (wow doesn’t that sentence smell funny)
October 11
Arlington County Board v. Richards, 434 U.S. 5 (decided October 11, 1977): community can restrict on-street parking to residents and their guests; “rational basis” survives Equal Protection attack (at first I got this confused with the Arlington zoning case from the same year, but this case didn’t seem to be about race; issue was avoiding congestion and pollution)
Ex parte Levitt, 302 U.S. 633 (decided October 11, 1937): someone sued to invalidate Hugo Black’s appointment to the Court on the basis that he was already a Senator (in violation of art. I, 6, clause 2) (I don’t know why anyone would argue this; he resigned as Senator the day he was confirmed); dismissed for lack of standing (does this mean nobody can contest a S.Ct. appointment?) (the opinion is “Per Curiam” and no note about Black recusing himself)
Oklahoma v. Texas, 272 U.S. 21 (decided October 11, 1926): original jurisdiction case; dispute over a chunk of land bigger than Rhode Island next to southwest corner of Oklahoma (not the panhandle) resolved by looking at the “true 100th meridian” where it intersects with the South Fork of the Red River, and not where bumbling surveyors had declared it to be, even if previously acquiesced in (look at modern map and you see the border wiggles to the south and north of the river, mostly south, to Oklahoma’s benefit; is this due to accretion/erosion?)
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Thomas v. Lumpkin, 598 U.S. --- (decided October 11, 2022): Sotomayor dissents from denial of cert, arguing that convicted murder defendant (black man who killed his white wife and their two young children) made out case for ineffective assistance because counsel did not object to placing jurors who said that interracial marriage was against God's law (defendant later took out both his eyeballs and ate one of them; Sotomayor, who admits the facts are "gruesome", notes that he had allegedly cut out the children's hearts to remove the Devil); as of this writing, October 11, 2023, defendant is still on Death Row)
October 12
United States v. Morrison, 429 U.S. 1 (decided October 12, 1976): After conviction based on marijuana found in car, the Circuit Court (in another case) created an exclusionary rule which was retrospective; defendant demanded a hearing which resulted in suppression of the evidence and vacating the conviction. Here, the Court holds that Double Jeopardy does not bar Government from appealing the suppression finding, because if the appeal is successful, it merely means the guilty verdict is reinstated.
Prunty v. Brooks, 528 U.S. 9 (decided October 12, 1999): one of several orders that day either imposing sanctions on compulsive filers of pro se certiorari motions or requiring them to pay full fees instead of proceeding in forma pauperis; Prunty himself was on his tenth filing, all frivolous; it is noted that all were on non-criminal matters
Patterson v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 269 U.S. 1 (decided October 12, 1925): amendment of Interstate Commerce Commission rate regulation power specifically applying to rates of short vs. long hauls also applied to rates of through vs. aggregate hauls; through rate being higher than aggregate rates is per se unreasonable, just as is short haul rate being higher than long haul rate
October 13
Moore v. Terminal Railroad Ass’n of St. Louis, 358 U.S. 31 (decided October 13, 1958): Court, without opinion, reverses Missouri Supreme Court and upholds jury verdict that railroad company had share of negligence in accident where plaintiff, a baggage handler operating a “hand cart” (remember those in old movies?), was crushed against a train when another train backed into his wagon; Frankfurter dissents on “sole cause” doctrine; Whittaker holds himself together long enough to write a longer dissent, noting that collision happened only because plaintiff turned his cart the wrong way (no mention of whether the cart was damaged, which means plaintiff was white — remember the quicksand scene in “Blazing Saddles”?)
Ziang Sung Wan v. United States, 266 U.S. 1 (decided October 13, 1924): confession to murder was not made voluntarily and should have been excluded; rejects presumption that a confession is voluntary so long as not “induced by promise or threat” (this is of course pre-Miranda); defendant, already in ill health due to earlier bout with “Spanish flu”, had been held incommunicado and interrogated for 13 straight days and when prison doctor saw him had to be removed to “the Red Cross room”
October 14
McConnell v. Rhay, 393 U.S. 2 (decided October 14, 1968): Court holds that its rule of Mempa v. Rhay, 1967, that there is a right to counsel in revocation of probation and deferred sentencing proceedings, at least as to felony defendants, is to be applied retroactively (retroactive application is often, though not always, ordered in criminal procedure matters, though it requires a second case with similar facts to come along)
Arkansas v. Tennessee, 311 U.S. 1 (decided October 14, 1940): Court overrules Arkansas’s objections to Special Master report in this original jurisdiction dispute over various avulsion-created islands in the Mississippi River; the opinion introduced me to the terms “towhead” (shoal) and “thalweg” (zigzag line tracing the deepest points of a river bed as one goes downstream, often used to define a border)
In re Isserman, 348 U.S. 1 (decided October 14, 1954): upon rehearing, attorney gets un-disbarred! (had been disbarred after defending Communist Party members in the “Foley Square trial” which he had obstructed with “repetitious and insolent objections”, resulting in contempt and jail and state disbarment; no reason given for welcoming him back to the Bar, presumably not with hearts and flowers)
Gonzalez v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, 280 U.S. 1 (decided October 14, 1929): in dispute over income from a Will which reached the Supreme Court of the Philippines (an American territory at the time), Court holds that First Amendment Free Exercise Clause prohibits civil courts from interfering with decisions of canonical authorities, even those affecting civil rights, absent fraud, collusion or abritratriness (extended by Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 1976, in which the Court said that not even arbitrariness would be examined) (this was the beginning of the “ministerial exception” to civil rights laws which has allowed Catholic institutions to fire gay teachers)
October 15
Civil Rights Cases, 109 U.S. 3 (decided October 15, 1883): strikes down federal statute prohibiting racial discrimination in public accommodations; Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments apply only to governmental action, not private action (here, refusal to allow black people to take rooms at an inn, seats at an opera, and to get onto “ladies’ car” reserved for whites on train) (according to Westlaw, this case was never explicitly overruled, with the first recognition of it no longer being good law being made only recently, by a Maine court, in June 2022)
Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (decided October 15, 1968): strikes down on Equal Protection grounds Ohio statutes making it “nearly impossible” for third parties to get onto ballot
Frese v. Chicago, B. & Q. RR. Co., 263 U.S. 1 (decided October 15, 1923): widow of engineer could not sue under Federal Employers’ Liability Act after train crash; though both engineers complied with statute requiring them to stop before an intersection, they were too far away and the immediate view was obstructed; no evidence of employer (i.e., employer’s employee) negligence — stoker was standing on other side of train where there was a better view but no evidence he was negligent in failing to warn of oncoming train because pure speculation that he was looking toward the intersection
October 16
Charlotte Harbor & N. Ry. Co. v. Welles, 260 U.S. 8 (decided October 16, 1922): Florida Legislature can ratify county’s ultra vires creation of new bridge district which overlapped existing district (the effect of which was to add a toll to an existing bridge)
Bitter v. United States, 389 U.S. 15 (decided October 16, 1967): Mail fraud defendant, who had been on time at every appearance, was 37 minutes late in returning from a recess. So the judge stuck him in a jail 40 miles away for the rest of the trial, denying repeated requests from counsel for release. Trial resulted in a conviction, which the Court overturns because of violation of right to counsel.
Coleman v. Alabama, 389 U.S. 22 (decided October 16, 1967): fact that no black had ever served on a grand jury (and few on petit juries) was prima facie case of violation of Equal Protection which State failed to rebut (conviction of John “Big Time” Coleman was for murder of a white man, John D. “Screwdriver” Johnson; so Coleman’s motion for a new trial was granted; no word on what happened on retrial) (every man in Alabama had a nickname in those days)
October 17
McPherson v. Blacker, 146 U.S. 1 (decided October 17, 1892): rejects argument that under art. II, §1, clause 2 (Electors from states shall be appointed “in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct”) electors have to be chosen by the Legislature itself, acting as a unit; upholds Michigan statute (i.e., an Act of the Legislature) directing Electors to be elected by Congressional district; mandamus is proper vehicle to determine this dispute because election is imminent
The Silvia, 171 U.S. 462 (decided October 17, 1898): shippers of sugar damaged by leaking vessel could not recover because damage due to bad weather not unseaworthiness; the opinion contains details of proper methods in those days of battening hatches, sealing ports, etc.
United States v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry. Co., 218 U.S. 233 (decided October 17, 1910): U.S. sued to get back land erroneously “patented” to railroad (actually, to disgorge proceeds from subsequent sale); U.S. could not recover for tracts which were already judicially declared swampland and so not included in the patent as defined
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Irick v. New York, 143 S.Ct. 357 (decided October 17, 2022): denied cert. where defendant (accused of burglary and menacing) claimed ineffective assistance of counsel; had misbehaved, throwing himself on the floor, so that court properly ejected him from hearing and refused to let him proceed pro se (203 A.D.3d 517); order seems odd to me because this was cert. directly from New York’s mid-level appellate court, the highest court having denied defendant's leave to appeal to that court -- I didn’t know the Supreme Court could entertain cert. from a mid-level state court
October 18
Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna, 595 U.S. — (decided October 18, 2021): plaintiff sued under §1983 for excessive force; Court held that police officer who put knee in his back after he was already on the ground was entitled to qualified immunity (plaintiff had threatened and cornered wife and children in house, came out at command of police with knife in his pocket, and officer briefly placed his knee on plaintiff’s back when handcuffing him and removing his knife); unanimous per curiam decision (this lawsuit was a new definition of “chutzpah”)
Bergere v. United States, 168 U.S. 66 (decided October 18, 1897): this decision on grants of land under a contested Will in the New Mexico territory presents a riot of law school issues, e.g., whether cattle grazing amounts to adverse possession, whether a torn document is an enforceable contract, to what extent the Court will apply the law of Mexico and Spain that were in effect at the time and place in question, whether delivery of land by the alcalde (mayor) binds the governor, and more
James v. Louisiana, 382 U.S. 36 (decided October 18, 1965): search of drug arrestee’s home two blocks from where he was arrested was not a “search incident to arrest” and therefore evidence seized there was inadmissible
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October 19
Comm’r of Internal Revenue v. McCoy, 484 U.S. 3 (decided October 19, 1987): Court of Appeals can’t award equitable relief (forgiving interest on tax deficiency) that was not available to trial court
Druggan v. Anderson, 269 U.S. 36 (decided October 19, 1925): Congress can pass statute restricting alcohol any time after the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified even though not in effect yet (18A on its terms became effective one year after ratification)
United States v. Maryland Savings-Share Ins. Corp., 400 U.S. 4 (decided October 19, 1970): tax exemption applicable to nonprofits organized after a certain date did not discriminate against nonprofits organized prior
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Cole v. Farris, 143 S.Ct. 366 (decided October 19, 2022): denied stay of execution of man who got angry at nine-month-old daughter for crying while he was playing Nintendo and broke her neck; schizophrenic and became increasingly unhinged during his 20 years in prison
October 20
United States v. Sandoval, 231 U.S. 28 (decided October 20, 1913): Congress can make laws as to Indian lands (here, a prohibition on bringing in liquor) over the head of the state involved (here, New Mexico) (contains extensive anthropological “testimony” as to Native Americans, summarized in this charming description: “Always living in separate and isolated communities, adhering to primitive modes of life, largely influenced by superstition and fetichism [sic], and chiefly governed according to the crude customs inherited from their ancestors, they are essentially a simple, uninformed, and inferior people”)
McCarthy v. Arndstein, 266 U.S. 34 (decided October 20, 1924): debtor testifying in bankruptcy proceeding enjoys Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination (though the rest of the experience probably wasn’t too “enjoy”able)
Colorado v. Bannister, 449 U.S. 1 (decided October 20, 1980): warrantless search and arrest were permissible; cop was legitimately on side of car to give driver a ticket (after stopping him for speeding) and saw lug wrench and nuts on floor and in open glove compartment, and driver and his companion matched description of men wanted for stealing car parts (when they saw they were being followed, couldn’t these guys have thrown this stuff under the seat; or maybe eaten it? see this clip from “The Groove Tube”, fondly remembered from my high school days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCzuiqtiWeo )
October 21
Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9 (decided October 21, 1991): judicial immunity for judge who ordered public defender seized and brought into courtroom when he failed to appear for a calendar call; ordering use of (allegedly excessive) force was acting in aid of his judicial authority (see law review article detailing what happened, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232781112.pdf, doesn’t make the judge look good)
United States v. Michigan Nat’l Corp., 419 U.S. 1 (decided October 21, 1974): Government can bring antitrust suit against holding company creating “phantom” banks into which real bank assets would be merged, even though Comptroller of the Currency had yet to approve the mergers; Federal Reserve Board (the other necessary approver) had already approved it (!!), creating a case or controversy, and under statute the Gov’t had only 30 days to sue
Tipton v. Socony Mobil Oil Co., 375 U.S. 34 (decided October 21, 1963): evidence that plaintiff had received longshoreman’s benefits so as to prove that he was not a sailor (as required for his Jones Act personal injury suit) should not have been placed before the jury without a cautionary instruction as to narrow issue it was admitted for and instruction that it was not dispositive on that issue (Jones Act has since been amended allowing non-sailors to sue; I defended one such case)
October 22
Maney v. United States, 278 U.S. 17 (decided October 22, 1928): District Court award of citizenship was not res judicata; United States could still institute cancellation proceedings; award could be attacked on basis that necessary Certificate of Arrival from the Department of Labor had not been attached to petition
Davis v. Wechsler, 263 U.S. 22 (decided October 22, 1923): Supreme Court can review facts on federal claim that had been rendered irrelevant in state court due to state rules on pleading
American Ry. Express Co. v. Levee, 263 U.S. 19 (decided October 22, 1923): common carrier limitation on liability, though invalid under state law, is valid under ICC rules which supersede on interstate commerce (here, damages for value of contents of trunk lost by railroad)
Benziger v. Robertson, 122 U.S. 211 (decided October 22, 1887): imported rosaries are not subject to tariff on “beads or bead ornaments”; though made of the same material, they are used in prayer and not as ornaments and put in pockets when prayers are finished (having grown up Catholic in the 1960’s I saw rosaries used ostentatiously, in effect as ornaments, and also the nuns wore them around their waists like belts)
October 23
INS v. Hibi, 414 U.S. 5 (decided October 23, 1973): denies application for citizenship by Philippines-born veteran who fought there and was imprisoned there by the Japanese because the Nationality Act of 1940 (as amended), which made citizenship available for any non-citizen who served honorably in World War II, set 12/31/46 deadline for applications, even though Nationality Act provisions were never publicized in the Philippines and there was no office there where one could apply (Hibi didn’t apply for citizenship until he moved to the United States in 1964); no equitable tolling because no “affirmative misconduct” by Government (Douglas, Brennan and Marshall dissent)
Beecher v. Alabama, 389 U.S. 35 (decided October 23, 1967): confession by black defendant of rape-murder of white woman when in hospital recovering from police gunshot wounds and under the influence of painkillers was not voluntarily made (defendant had already made a confession, but it was at the scene and at gunpoint)
Bacon v. Rives, 106 U.S. 99 (decided October 23, 1882): diversity jurisdiction exists where real party in interest defendant (executor who made off with estate funds) is out of state even when nominal defendants (co-executors who had an interest in the dispute) are in-state
October 24
Robinson v. Hanrahan, 409 U.S. 38 (decided October 24, 1972): forfeiture of car after armed robbery conviction violated Due Process; notice of forfeiture was mailed to defendant’s house when state knew he was sitting in prison
Hopkins v. United States, 171 U.S. 578 (decided October 24, 1898): restrictions on activities of members of cattle market in Kansas City (both Kansas and Missouri) do not restrain interstate commerce in violation of Sherman Act
Smallwood v. Gallardo, 275 U.S. 56 (decided October 24, 1927): courts were divested of authority to hear suits to restrain collection of taxes in “Porto Rico” by subsequent Act of Congress; though Act allowed writs of mandamus, it specifically excluded from jurisdiction suits to restrain collection of taxes
October 25
Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (decided October 25, 1926): President can remove officers appointed with consent of Senate (here, a postmaster) without Senate approval, even though Constitution is silent on the issue; striking down 1876 statute and (finally) striking down the Tenure of Office Act under which Andrew Johnson had been impeached
Gegiow v. Uhl, 239 U.S. 3 (decided October 25, 1915): alien cannot be excluded on grounds that “overstocked labor market” in Portland (Ore.) would likely result in him becoming a public charge; grounds must be nation-based, not locality-based
Vicksburg & M.R. Co. v. Putnam, 118 U.S. 545 (decided October 25, 1886): in Federal Employer Liability Act action, judge should have instructed jury that they are not bound by actuarial tables showing life expectancy, but can use their own judgment
October 26
United States v. Kurtz, 164 U.S. 49 (decided October 26, 1896): this mundane case concerns how a clerk’s fee is to be calculated — by transaction? by entire case? does entering jury information count? incredibly, there was already a body of case law on this question, some of it by the Court
Arciniega v. Freeman, 404 U.S. 4 (decided October 26, 1971): chatting with co-workers who happened to have criminal records was not a violation of parole
American Ry. Express Co. v. Daniel, 269 U.S. 40 (decided October 26, 1925): shipper bound by stipulation setting lower rate even though higher rate (because the goods were above a certain value) should have applied
October 27
Maxwell v. Bugbee, 250 U.S. 525 (decided October 27, 1919): New Jersey tax on out-of-state inheritor based on ratio of property owned in state to out-of-state does not amount to an impermissible tax on out-of-state property (which would violate art. IV, §2, clause 1)
Simpson v. Union Oil Co. of California, 396 U.S. 13 (decided October 27, 1969): whether past damages are available for illegally requiring fixed sale price of gasoline sold “on consignment” (a violation of the Sherman Act) is to be determined case by case, but in this case, they are
United States v. Morton, 112 U.S. 1 (decided October 27, 1884): time spent as cadet at West Point counted towards “time in service” for the purpose of calculating increase in pay
October 28
Jackson v. Allen, 132 U.S. 27 (decided October 28, 1889): case should not have been removed because diversity of citizenship not clearly established; vacating judgment after trial and remanding to Circuit Court with directions to remand to state court (interestingly the Court notes that citizenship at the time of removal was relevant, as well as at the time of commencement; I thought only the latter was looked to) (I know from experience that federal judges will insist on tracking down every silent partner of every party before ruling on diversity)
Bartone v. United States, 375 U.S. 52 (decided October 28, 1963): a federal court can’t extend a sentence for violation of parole without the parolee being present (see Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 43)
Fuller v. Alaska, 393 U.S. 80 (decided October 28, 1968): here the Court holds that a recently announced exclusionary rule (as to evidence from illegal wiretaps) is to be applied only prospectively
October 29
Shell v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 1 (decided October 29, 1990): capital murder conviction reversed because definition of “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” given to jury was too vague
Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education, 396 U.S. 19 (decided October 29, 1969): Court attempts to end “all deliberate speed” stalling by declaring that as of now any segregated school system is per se illegal
New York v. Eno, 155 U.S. 89 (decided October 29, 1894): federal courts can’t spring someone from state jail until state appeals process on federal question has run its course
October 30
Jones v. Meehan, 175 U.S. 1 (decided October 30, 1899): language of treaty, and rights of inheritance as to Indian property, are construed as members of the tribe would understand them, not by looking to law of the state (at issue was a 10-foot wide strip of land along the shore of Red Lake in Minnesota)
Tuggle v. Netherland, 516 U.S. 10 (decided October 30, 1995): failure of state to provide independent psychiatrist to possibly rebut state showing of future dangerousness (required by Ake v. Oklahoma, 1985) resulted in vacatur of death sentence even though other aggravating factors were validly shown
October 31
General Atomic Co. v. Felter, 434 U.S. 12 (decided October 31, 1977): state court can’t enjoin litigants from filing actions in federal court
Kane v. Garcia Espitia, 546 U.S. 9 (decided October 31, 2005): Does the right to self-representation require a pro se defendant to have access to the prison law library? Because the Supreme Court had not ruled on the issue, the Circuit Court erred in holding that the “clearly established federal law” requirement for habeas relief applied (but the Court here refuses to rule on the issue! — and remands for “further proceedings consistent with this opinion” — ???)
Louisiana v. Mississippi, 516 U.S. 22 (decided October 31, 1995): in this original jurisdiction case, Court holds that Stack Island is still in Mississippi even though main channel of the Mississippi River now runs on the Mississippi side of it and accretion plus erosion has shifted the island toward Louisiana (applies the “island exception to the rule of thalweg” which serves to prevent change of jurisdiction over the island) (a thalweg is a zigzag line tracing the deepest points of a river bed as one goes downstream; it is often used to define a border) (Stack Island was, according to Wikipedia, “a rendezvous for horse thieves, counterfeiters, robbers and murders” until the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 – 1812 reduced it to a sand bar)
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Weidrick v. Biden, 143 S.Ct. 368 (decided October 31, 2022): Court lacks a quorum, seven of the Justices having been named as defendants in this pro se suit alleging “mind-raping” of plaintiff by computer, terrorist acts, etc., see District Court’s order of dismissal of suit as frivolous, 2022 WL 3215590; only Kagan and Gorsuch appear to be innocent of these foul acts (unsigned decision cites 28 U.S.C. §1, which requires quorum of six Justices, and 28 U.S.C. §2109, under which without a quorum the Court’s disposition is equivalent to an affirmance due to an evenly split Court)