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Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
Citation561 U.S. 1 (2010) Brief Fact Summary. The plaintiffs, who seek to provide support to groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations under the federal statute, challenged the statute. They claimed that they wanted to facilitate only the lawful, nonviolent purposes of those groups and that the prohibition by the statute violates the Constitution. Synopsis of Rule of Law. A content-neutral regulation will be sustained under the First Amendment if it advances important governmental interests unrelated to the suppression of free speech and do ...
Lawrence v. Texas
Citation539 U.s. 558 (2003) Brief Fact Summary. The petitioners, two adult males, were arrested and convicted when the police saw them engaging in a private, consensual sexual act. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Freedom extends beyond spatial bounds. Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression and certain intimate contact. ...
Lawrence v. Texas
Citation539 U.S. 558 (2003) Brief Fact Summary. Texas convicted the petitioners of violating an anti-gay state law prohibiting people from engaging in sexual acts with someone of the same sex. The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of the state law. Synopsis of Rule of Law. In Bowers (overturned here), the Court upheld an anti-sodomy law, ruling that there was no fundamental right for gay people to engage in sodomy. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from depriving any person of life, ...
Lawrence v. Texas
Citation539 U.S. 558, 123 S.Ct. 2472, 156 L.Ed.2d 508 (2003). Brief Fact Summary. . Synopsis of Rule of Law. Although homosexual conduct is not a fundamental right, intimate sexual relationships between consenting adults are protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. ...
Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
Citation561 U.S. 1 (2010) Brief Fact Summary. Congress has prohibited the provision of “material support or resources” to certain foreign organizations that engage in terrorist activity, based on its claim that contribution of resources may facilitate the criminal conduct of such organizations. The plaintiff here has sought to provide support to two such organizations but only to facilitate lawful, nonviolent purposes of those groups. Plaintiffs claim that Congress’ prohibition is too vague and infringes the rights to freedom of speech and association in violating of ...
Emanuel Law Outlines, Inc. v. Multi-State Legal Studies, Inc.
Citation899 F.Supp. 1081 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) Brief Fact Summary. A contract was entered into by two companies in the business of aiding law school students' studies. The contract required one party to deliver a certain supplement within a certain amount of time to the other party. The party was late in delivering the supplement. Synopsis of Rule of Law. A contract will not be considered breached unless there is "substantial impairment of the whole contract." ...
Lawrence v. Texas
Citation539 US 558 (2003) Brief Fact Summary. Police found two men engaged in sexual conduct, in their home, and they were arrested under a Texas statute that prohibited such conduct between two men. Synopsis of Rule of Law. While homosexual conduct is not a fundamental right, intimate sexual relationships between consenting adults are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. ...
Kelsey-Hayes Co. v. Galtaco Redlaw Castings Corp
Citation22 Ill.749 F. Supp. 794 (E.D. Mich. 1990) Brief Fact Summary. This case involves a requirements contract where the supplier threatened to stop production if the buyer did not agree to pay a higher price for the product. Synopsis of Rule of Law. A contract is voidable if made under economic duress. ...
State v. Lawrence
CitationState v. Lawrence, 166 Wn. App. 378, 271 P.3d 280, 2012 Wash. App. LEXIS 211 (Wash. Ct. App. Feb. 2, 2012) Brief Fact Summary. The defendant appealed his conviction for grand larceny after stealing a car. He argued that the trial court should not have taken judicial notice of the value of the car. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Judicial notice may not be taken on any fact which is a necessary element of the crime with which the accused is charged. ...
McDougald v. Garber
Citation73 N.Y.2d 246, 536 N.E.2d 372, 538 N.Y.S.2d 937 (N.Y. 1989) Brief Fact Summary. Garber’s malpractice left McDougald permanently comatose. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Cognitive awareness is a prerequisite to recovery for loss of enjoyment of life. ...
United States v. Morrison
Citation529 U.S. 589 (2000) Brief Fact Summary. Christy Brzonkala, a Virginia Tech student, sued Antonio Morrison, James Crawford, and Virginia Tech under VAWA, alleging that Morrison and Crawford assaulted and raped her. VAWA provided a civil remedy for victims of violent gender-based crime. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Congress may not regulate noneconomic, violent criminal conduct under the Commerce Clause solely because the conduct, in aggregate, effects interstate commerce. ...
United States v. Comstock
Citation560 U.S. 126 (2010) Brief Fact Summary. Congress enacted a staute that allowed district courts to order the civil commitment of individuals in federal prison under certain circumstances. The government argued that Comstock was an individual subject to regulation under the statute. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Under the Necessary and Proper Clause, Congress could allow district courts to order the civil commitment of federal prisoners under certain circumstances. The Supreme Court proffered five considerations to reach its conclusion: (1) that t ...
Morrison v. Olson
Citation487 U.S. 654 (1988) Brief Fact Summary. Title VI of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 allowed for the creation of a Special division—a special court—to appoint independent counsel to investigate and prosecute certain high-ranking Government officials for violations of federal criminal laws. Synopsis of Rule of Law. An “inferior officer” under the Appointments Clause is one who (1) is subject to removal by a higher executive branch official; (2) can only perform certain limited duties; (3) is limited in jurisdiction, and (4) limited ...
United States v. Comstock
Citation560 U.S. 126, 130 S. Ct. 1949 (2010) Brief Fact Summary. Congress enacted a statute that allows federal district courts to order the civil commitment of mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoners beyond the dates they would otherwise be released. It is alleged that the statute violates the Article I of the Constitution. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Congress possesses broad authority to enact laws in the course of “carrying into execution” its enumerated powers. ...
Morrison v. Olson
Citation487 U.S. 654 (1988) Brief Fact Summary. Olson, the Solicitor General, moved to quash the investigation of the independent counsel on the ground that the Act was unconstitutional. Olson argues that even if the independent counsel was an inferior officer, the Constitution does not permit Congress to place the power to appoint outside the Executive Branch. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Vesting of an appointment power in the courts would be improper if there was some incongruity between the functions normally performed by the courts and the perf ...
Nixon v. Fitzgerald
Citation457 U.S. 731 (1982) Brief Fact Summary. The plaintiff sued the former President and his claim rests on actions allegedly taken in the former President’s official capacity during his tenure in office. Synopsis of Rule of Law. An official’s absolute immunity should extend only to acts in performance of particular functions of his office. ...
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
Citation376 U.S. 254 (1964) Brief Fact Summary. Respondent Sullivan, one of the three elected Commissioners of the City of Montgomery, Alabama, brought a civil libel action against the four individual petitioners, who are Negros and Alabama clergymen, and against petitioner the New York Times Company, a New York corporation which publishes daily newspaper. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Constitution delimits a State’s power to award damages for libel in actions brought by public officials against critics of their official conduct. &n ...
Employment Division, Department of Human Resources v. Smith
Citation494 U.S. 872 (1990) Brief Fact Summary. The respondents challenged the state practice of including religiously inspired peyote use within the reach of its general criminal prohibition on use of that drug on the ground that it violates the First Amendment. Synopsis of Rule of Law. A State could not condition the availability of unemployment insurance on an individual’s willingness to forgo conduct required by his religion. ...
Morrison v. Olson
Citation. 487 U.S. 654, 108 S.Ct. 2597, 101 L.Ed.2d 569 (1988). Brief Fact Summary. Olson, the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, had given false and misleading testimony before Congress. Pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act, the Attorney General initiated an investigation which led to the Special Division’s appointment of Morrison as independent counsel. Olson alleged that the appointment of independent counsel violated the Constitution. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Congress may enact provisions with for-cause removal restrictions on infer ...
Gonzalez v. Raich
Citation545 U.S. 1, 125 S. Ct. 2195, 162 L. Ed. 2d 1 (2005). Brief Fact Summary. A group of medical marijuana users brought suit in federal court arguing that the CSA exceeded Congress’ commerce clause power. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Congress may regulate the production, distribution, possession, and consumption of marijuana under the CSA, so long as Congress’ means are rationally related to its objective. ...
State v. Martin
Citation537 A.2d 1359 (N.J. 1990) Brief Fact Summary. Martin (Defendant) set a fire as he left a building, resulting in a woman’s death. Defendant appealed his conviction of felony murder, arguing that the court improperly instructed the jury that Defendant was guilty even if the act which caused the death was unintentional or accidental. Synopsis of Rule of Law. When a material element of an absolute-liability offense is the causing of a particular result, the state must prove that this result is a probable consequence of the defendant’s actions. Facts. Defendant and four other individual ...
State v. Hall
Citation19 S.E. 602 (1894) Brief Fact Summary. Defendants appeal a conviction of murder. Synopsis of Rule of Law. If an individual standing in North Carolina shoots and kills another individual standing in another state, the North Carolina resident may only be charged with a crime in the other state. Facts. North Carolina residents Hall and Dockery (Defendants) shot and killed Andrew Bryson. When the shooting occurred, Defendants were physically standing in the State of North Carolina and Bryson was standing in the State of Tennessee. Hall was charged as a principal in the murder of Bryson and ...