“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 the Court affirmed in “Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin II”, 2016
Cheney v. United States District Court, 542 U.S. 367 (decided June 24, 2004): Freedom of Information requests to Cheney’s Energy Task Force were overbroad and likely to conflict with official duties; remands to lower court to narrow requests (though Cheney argued that the requests should be denied in full) (suit was brought by Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club, an odd couple) (easy to see why oilman Cheney fought so hard against disclosure; leaks showed that even before 9/11 he was planning on toppling Saddam Hussein so as to open up the Iraqi oil market)
Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. 388 (decided June 24, 2019): a crude but probably unavoidable offspring of Matal v. Tam, 2017, which had struck down on First Amendment grounds the USPTO Office’s refusal on statutory “disparagement” grounds to trademark “The Slants”, the name of an Asian-American band which wanted to “take back” that racial slur; here, the Court vacates the refusal to trademark the clothing line “FUCT” despite the “scandalous” name
Jenkins v. Georgia, 418 U.S. 153 (decided June 24, 1974): rules that the film “Carnal Knowledge” was not obscene (I saw it as a teenager -- Ann-Margret was hot!! -- also, when I was back to having a free hand to hold the popcorn, I realized it was a good movie)
Becerra v. Empire Health Foundation, 597 U.S. 424 (decided June 24, 2022): approving HHS rule that percentage of Medicare-eligible patients (which goes into calculation of reimbursement rates for low-income-serving hospitals) includes those not actually receiving Medicare
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (decided June 24, 2022): the Constitution does not provide a right to abortion and it’s not a substantive right “deeply rooted” in tradition; overruling the pro-choice extent of the holdings in Roe v. Wade, 1973 and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 1990 and upholding Mississippi statute outlawing abortions after 15 weeks “except in a medical emergency” (i.e., to save life of mother) or in the case of “severe fetal abnormality”
Hooper v. Bernadillo County Assessor, 472 U.S. 612 (decided June 24, 1985): Equal Protection violated by New Mexico statute limiting Vietnam War veteran property tax deduction to those who were New Mexico residents at the time
Pauley v. Bethenergy Mines, 501 U.S. 680 (decided June 24, 1991): permits two extra restrictions agency placed on applicants for federal Black Lung Disease benefits because they are obvious (benefits denied if no showing that condition arose out of working in mines, or if applicant does not in fact have pneumoconiosis)
Dutra Group v. Batterton, 588 U.S. 358 (decided June 24, 2019): applying admiralty common law, holds that punitive damages not recoverable on claim of unseaworthiness (sailor injured by hatch blowing open)
Skilling v. United States, 561 U.S. 358 (decided June 24, 2010): vacates conviction against Enron executive for “honest services fraud” because statutory language was vague and would include some legal activities; Skilling’s conviction on other counts is not at issue so the case is sent back for resentencing (he also argued, unsuccessfully, that the jury was biased due to pretrial publicity)
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