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March 2002
Monday, March 18
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Charles Zandford
No. 01-147
Subject:
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jurisdiction, Brokers, Theft, Fraud
Question:
Whether a stockbroker's fraud is "in connection with the * * * sale" of securities
under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. 78j(b), and Rule
10b-5 of the Securities and Exchange Commission, 17 C.F.R. 240.10b-5, when the
stockbroker sells his customer's securities for his own benefit and uses the proceeds
for himself, without disclosure to his customer and without authorization to do so.
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
Warren Christopher, Former Secretary of State, et al. v. Jennifer K. Harbury
No. 01-394
Subject:
Qualified Immunity, Denial of Access to Courts
Question:
Whether allegations that senior State Department and National Security Council officials withheld information and intentionally misled a private citizen about their knowledge of a foreign rebel leader in the captivity of a foreign government state a violation of the constitutional right of access to the courts, when the only claim is that defendants' speech was intentionally misleading and there are no allegations that the plaintiff ever tried to file a lawsuit and was actually hindered in that effort.
Whether, if the Court concludes that a constitutional violation is properly grounded on allegations such as these, government officials violate clearly established law whenever they allegedly mislead a private citizen or conceal information and it is alleged that they intended to and did hinder the filing of a hypothetical lawsuit.
Decisions:
- U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit, Filed: December 12, 2000
- U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit, Filed: January 5, 2000
- U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit, Filed: January 5, 2000
- U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit, Filed: April 6, 2001
- U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit, Filed: April 6, 2001
- United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: December 10, 2001
- United States Supreme Court, Decided: June 20, 2002
Resources:
Briefs:
Amicus - Petitioner:
- United States [PDF] [TEXT] [RTF]
Tuesday, March 19
Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County, et al. v. Lindsay Earls, et al.
No. 01-332
Subject:
Fourth Amendment, Search and Seizure, Drug Testing, Students
Question:
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
Amicus - Petitioner:
- United States [PDF] [TEXT] [RTF]
- Washington Legal Foundation et al. [PDF]
Amicus - Respondent:
- Juvenile Law Center et al. [PDF] [RTF] [WP]
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers et al. [TEXT]
- National School Boards Association et al. [PDF]
- Professors Akhil Reed Amar and Vikram Amar [TEXT]
The Holmes Group, Inc. v. Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc.
No. 01-408
Subject:
Question:
- Does 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1) divest regional Circuits of jurisdiction over cases in which the well-pleaded complaint of the prevailing plaintiff does not allege any claim arising under federal patent law?
- Did the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit err in concluding that this action is a “patent case,” that is, a “civil action arising under” federal patent law for purposes of 28 U.S.C. sect;§ 1295(a)(1) and 1338(a)?
Decisions:
Resources:
- Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Oral Argument Transcript From the U.S. Supreme Court
- Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket
United States International Trade Commission:
- Complaint of Vornado Air Circulation Systems Inc. Under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as Amended, 19 U.S.C. § 1337 (PDF) November 24, 1999.
- Submission of The Holmes Group, Inc. in Opposition of Complaint (PDF) Includes Complaint of The Holmes Group, Inc. in the U.S. District Court (District of Kansas). December 10, 1999.
- Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Memorandum (PDF) From The Holmes Group, Inc. December 21, 1999.
- Supplement to Complaint (PDF) From Vornado Air Circulation Systems Inc. January 7, 2000.
- ITC Institutes § 337 Investigation on Spiral Grilled Products January 21, 2000
- Certain Spiral Grilled Products Including Ducted Fans and Components Thereof; Notice of Investigation [PDF] From the Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 17. January 26, 2000.
- Initial Determination Terminating the Investigation Based Upon Withdrawal of the Complaint (PDF) Includes Vornado's Motion to Withdraw Its ITC Complaint and Terminate the Investigation Without Prejudice, a Settlement Agreement, and U.S. District Court (D. Kansas) Dismissal Orders. June 16, 2000.
- Notice of Commission Determination Not To Review an Initial Determination Terminating the Investigation Based on Withdrawl of the Complaint [PDF] From the Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 144. July 26, 2000.
Briefs:
Parties:
- Petitioner [PDF]
Wednesday, March 20
Wanda Adams, et al. v. Florida Power Corporation, et al.
No. 01-584
Subject:
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Disparate Impact
Question:
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
Amicus - Respondent:
- Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America [PDF]
Gary E. Gisbrecht, et al. v. Jo Anne B. Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security
No. 01-131
Subject:
Social Security, Attorneys Fees, Lodestar, Contingency Fees
Question:
Whether, when determining a “reasonable” attorney fee to be paid by the plaintiff to the plaintiff's attorney pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 406(b), a court may give no effect to the plaintiff's contract to compensate plaintiff's attorney in terms of a contingent fee taking into account the contingent nature of the fee even when the contingent fee requested is within the statutory limitation of 42 U.S.C. § 406(b) for an attorney fee not to exceed “25 percent of the total of the past-due benefits,” even when it is a criminal offense for an attorney to charge a non-contingent fee, and even when the contingent fee sought is consistent with the prevailing market rate.
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
Parties:
- Petitioner (Petition) [PDF]
- Respondent (Petition) [PDF] [TEXT] [RTF]
- Petitioner - Reply (Petition) [PDF]
- Petitioner [PDF]
- Respondent [PDF] [TEXT]
- Petitioner [PDF]
Amicus - Petitioner:
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America [PDF] [MS-WORD]
Amicus - Respondent:
- Washington Legal Foundation et al. [PDF]
Monday, March 25
Warden Ricky Bell v. Gary Bradford Cone
No. 01-400
Subject:
Sixth Amendment, Effective Assistance of Counsel, Sentencing
Question:
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
William J. Harris v. United States
No. 00-10666
Subject:
Sentencing, Element of the Crime, Sentencing Factor
Question:
Given that a finding of “brandishing”, as used in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c)(1)(A),
results in an increased mandatory minimum sentence, must the fact of
“brandishing” be alleged in the indictment and proved beyond a reasonable doubt?
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
Amicus - Petitioner:
- The Cato Institute et al. [PDF]
Amicus - Respondent:
- Criminal Justice Legal Foundation [PDF]
Tuesday, March 26
Republican Party of Minnesota v. Verna Kelly, et al.
No. 01-521
Subject:
First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Free Speech, Judges, Elections
Question:
Whether the provision of the Minnesota Code of Judicial
Conduct that prohibits a candidate for elective judicial office
from “announc[ing] his or her views on disputed legal or
political issues” unconstitutionally impinges on the freedom of
speech as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments
to the United States Constitution.
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
Parties:
- Respondent [PDF]
- Petitioner - Reply [PDF]
- Petitioner Gregory F. Wersal, et al. [PDF]
- Petitioner Republican Party [PDF]
- Petitioner Gregory F. Wersal, et al. - Reply [PDF]
- Petitioner Republican Party - Reply [PDF]
Amicus - Petitioner:
- American Center for Law and Justice [PDF]
- American Civil Liberties Union et al. [PDF]
- Chamber of Commerce of the United States [PDF]
- Public Citizen [PDF]
- Republican National Committee [PDF]
- State Supreme Court Justices [PDF]
Amicus - Respondent:
- Ad Hoc Committee of Former Justices and Friends [PDF] [WP]
- American Bar Association [PDF] [MS-WORD]
- Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law [PDF]
- Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts [PDF]
- Minnesota State Bar Association [PDF] [MS-WORD]
Amicus - Neither Party:
- Idaho Conservation League et al. [PDF]
Robert J. Devlin v. Robert Scardelletti, et al.
No. 01-417
Subject:
Class Action Settlement, Intervention, Standing
Question:
Whether a class member who, upon receiving notice of a
proposed class action settlement, objects and moves to
intervene has standing to appeal the district court's approval
of the settlement?
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs:
Parties:
- Petitioner [PDF]
Wednesday, March 27
Utah, et al. v. Donald L. Evans, Secretary of Commerce, et al.
No. 01-714
Subject:
Census, Imputation, Apportionment
Question:
Whether appellants' challenge to the Census Bureau's use of imputation is justiciable.
Whether the use of imputation violated 13 U.S.C. § 195, which prohibits "the use of the statistical method known as 'sampling'" in determining the population "for purposes of apportionment of Representatives in Congress among the several States."
Whether the use of imputation violated the Census Clause of the Constitution, Article I, Section 2, Clause 3.
Decisions:
Resources:
Briefs: