Knox v. Lee (Legal Tender Cases), 79 U.S. 457 (decided May 1, 1871): forcing creditors to accept new (paper) money for preexisting debts is not a Fifth Amendment “taking" which applies only to physical property (as pointed out in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, 2021, “takings” are now more expansively defined)
Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (decided May 1, 1989): Title VII plaintiff doesn’t have to prove but-for causation, just a motivating factor; defendant must show by preponderance a non-discriminatory reason for failure to promote (1991 statute devised a different test, as noted in Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, 2020)
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne Int'l Drilling Co., 581 U.S. 170 (decided May 1, 2017): (I didn’t know until I read this case that this was the official name of that country) plaintiff must show that property at issue (here, oil rigs) was actually taken in violation of international law so as to invoke jurisdiction of the court under the “expropriation” exception in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act; whether the property belonged to plaintiff is what is decided in “the merits phase of the litigation” (but isn’t a showing of violation part of the “merits” was dismissed recently based on later appellate court holding that FSIA requires the property to be present in the United States, 2023 WL 1401372 (D. D.C.) (Jan. 31, 2023))
Arkansas Dept. of Health & Human Services v. Ahlborn, 547 U.S. 268 (decided May 1, 2006): I do a CLE presentation on this case, which means it’s a boring topic: Medicare and Medicaid liens on personal injury settlements. Here, the Court holds that an Arkansas statute requiring recovery of the full Medicaid lien violates the prohibition on liens recovering “property” (42 U.S.C. §1395p) because it invades the part of the settlement not reasonably ascribable to medical expenses.
United States v. Robertson, 514 U.S. 669 (decided May 1, 1995): gold mine into which defendant invested ill-gotten RICO gains (from sale of cocaine) was involved in “interstate commerce” so as to satisfy RICO statute
Mallard v. United States District Court for Southern District of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296 (decided May 1, 1989): court can per 28 U.S.C. §1915(d) request (but not force) an attorney to represent indigent criminal defendant
Oklahoma v. Texas, 258 U.S. 574 (decided May 1, 1922): border of the ever-shifting Red River depends on the part of it that is navigable, a difficult question because at that point the “main channel” was a dry bed with streams around it; important because it involved oil and gas rights (both sides concede that all of the river bed belongs to Oklahoma; the map today shows the river and the border swing-dancing the whole way)
Ashcraft v. Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143 (decided May 1, 1944): white man allegedly hired black man to kill his wife; the Court holds that the white man’s confession was not voluntary (doesn't reach the question of the black man's confession); vacates white man’s conviction and sends black man’s case back to Tennessee Supreme Court re: prejudicial effect of white man's confession (I would imagine it would be substantial!) (it is odd that it was up to the jury to decide whether the confessions were voluntary; I thought this was a threshold issue for the judge to decide -- here, the Court disregards the jury’s finding of voluntariness and does independent evaluation of voluntariness evidence, which seems backwards)
In re Permian Basin Area Rate Cases, 390 U.S. 747 (decided May 1, 1968): long decision (with 96 headnotes!!) affirming the Federal Power Commission’ power to set rates and other requirements for gas drilled from the Permian Basin (areas of Texas and New Mexico)
Latta & Terry Constr. Co. v. British Steamship “Raithmoor”, 241 U.S. 166 (decided May 1, 1916): admiralty jurisdiction extends to suit for damage to pier hit by vessel
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