Supreme Court Docket



Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Sept 2003 | Unscheduled

April 2003

[Download April 1-2, 2003 Argument Calendar PDF]
[Download April 21-30, 2003 Argument Calendar PDF]
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Note: Briefs available on this page may not match originals in format and appearance

Tuesday, April 1

Barbara Grutter v. Lee Bollinger, et al.
No. 02-241

Subject:

Question:
  1. Does the University of Michigan Law School's use of racial preferences in student admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000d), or 42 U.S.C. § 1981?

  2. Should an appellate court required to apply strict scrutiny to governmental race-based preferences review de novo the district court's findings because the fact issues are "constitutional"?
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Judicial Misconduct Proceedings:

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Jennifer Gratz, et al. v. Lee Bollinger, et al.
No. 02-516

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Wednesday, April 2

Phillip T. Breuer v. Jim's Concrete of Brevard
No. 02-337

Subject:

Question:
  1. Whether an action commenced in state court under the Fair Labor Standards Act ["FLSA"] of 1938, can be removed by the defendant to a federal district court, even though the FLSA expressly provides that the case can be "maintained" in state court.

  2. Whether the 11th Circuit's interpretation of the word "maintained" as used in the jurisdictional provisions of the FLSA conflicts with the Supreme Court's pronounced definition of the word "maintain" to be used when construing federal statutes.
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Dastar Corporation v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
No. 02-428

Subject:

Question:
  1. Does the Lanham Act protect creative works from uncredited copying, even without a likelihood of consumer confusion?

  2. May a court applying the Lanham Act award twice the defendant's profits for purely deterrent purposes?

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Monday, April 21

Janette Price, Warden v. Duyonn A. Vincent
No. 02-524

Subject:

Question:
  1. Whether the Michigan Supreme Court's conclusion that the trial court did not direct a verdict of acquittal is a factual finding entitled to deference on habeas corpus review.

  2. Whether defendant Vincent was twice placed in jeopardy by the action of the trial court in first granting a motion for directed verdict on the issue of first degree murder, and shortly thereafter withdrawing its grant, where both the initial decision and its recall occurred out of the presence of the jury.

  3. Whether this Court should grant certiorari to clarify the jurisprudence where there is a split of opinion within the United States Courts of Appeals and within the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and State Courts on the question of whether double jeopardy principles were violated in factually similar situations.
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Desert Palace, Inc., dba Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino v. Catharina F. Costa
No. 02-679

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Tuesday, April 22

Green Tree Financial Corp., nka Conseco Finance Corp., v. Lynn W. Bazzle, et al.
No. 02-634

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Hillside Dairy, et al. v. William J. Lyons, Jr., California Dept. Food and Agric., et al.
No. 01-950

Ponderosa Dairy, et al. v. William J. Lyons, Jr., California Dept. Food and Agric., et al.
No. 01-1018

Subject:

Question:
  1. Whether 7 U.S.C. § 7254 exempts California's milk pricing and pooling regulations from scrutiny under the Commerce Clause.

  2. Whether California's milk pricing and pooling regulations violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause.
Decisions:

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Wednesday, April 23

American Insurance Assn., et al. v. John Garamendi, Commissioner of Insurance, State of California
No. 02-722

Subject:

Question:
  1. Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in refusing to apply the foreign affairs doctrine of Zschernig v. Miller, 389 U.S. 429 (1968), to a California law directed at the foreign activities of European insurance companies, which has been declared by the federal government to be "in direct conflict" with "United States foreign policy" and which has generated strong protests from affected foreign nations.

  2. Whether the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1011-1015, authorizes California to regulate overseas activities of insurance companies having no connection with the State.
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Nike, Inc., et al. v. Marc Kasky
No. 02-575

Subject:

Question:
  1. When a corporation participates in a public debate – writing letters to newspaper editors and to educators and publishing communications addressed to the general public on issues of great political, social, and economic importance – may it be subjected to liability for factual inaccuracies on the theory that its statements are "commercial speech" because they might affect consumers' opinions about the business as a good corporate citizen and thereby affect their purchasing decisions?

  2. Even assuming the California Supreme Court properly characterized such statements as "commercial speech," does the First Amendment, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, permit subjecting speakers to the legal regime approved by that court in the decision below?
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Monday, April 28

The Black & Decker Disability Plan v. Kenneth L. Nord
No. 02-469

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Entergy Louisiana, Inc. v. Louisiana Public Serv. Comm.
No. 02-299

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Tuesday, April 29

Georgia v. John Ashcroft, Attorney Gen., et al.
No. 02-182

Subject:

Question:
  1. Whether section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires the drawing of safe majority-minority districts with super majority-minority populations rather than districts that afford minorities equal opportunities at success.

  2. Whether section 5 can be constitutionally construed to require the drawing of supermajority-minority legislative districts in order to create safe seats rather than seats that afford minorities equal opportunities at success.

  3. Whether private parties should be allowed to intervene in a section 5 preclearance action and assume the role and authority of the Attorney General.
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Michael Fitzgerald, Treasurer of Iowa v. Racing Assoc. of Central Iowa
No. 02-695

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Wednesday, April 30

Commonwealth of Virginia v. Kevin Lamont Hicks
No. 02-371

Subject:

Question:
  1. Whether a criminal defendant may invoke the overbreadth doctrine even though (a) his own offense did not involve any expressive conduct, and (b) his conduct was not proscribed by that portion of the government statute, regulation or policy he challenges as overbroad.

  2. Whether the Constitution recognizes a distinction between actions taken by government as landlord and actions taken by government as sovereign.
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Beneficial National Bank, et al. v. Marie Anderson, et al.
No. 02-306

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Question: Decisions:

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