Citation567 U.S. 519 (2012) Brief Fact Summary. Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, which requires most Americans to have minimum essential health insurance coverage. It is argued that Congress does not have the power to enact the Act under the Commerce Clause. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The power to regulate commerce presupposes the existence of commercial activity to be regulated. ...
Search Results
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
Citation485 U.S. 46 (1988) Brief Fact Summary. Falwell, respondent, sought damages against the magazine for invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress after the magazine that printed an interview alleging Falwell’s “first time” was with his mother and suggested that he was a hypocrite. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Even when a speaker or writer is motivated by hatred or ill-will his expression is protected by the First Amendment. ...
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin et al.
Citation136 S. Ct. 2198, 195 L. Ed. 2d 511 (2016) Brief Fact Summary. The petitioner applied for undergraduate admission to the University of Texas but was denied since she was not in the top ten percent of her class. She argues that the University’s approach of taking race as a factor in accepting first year students violates the Equal Protection Clause. The University argues that its approach facilitates the goal of furthering diversity in the university. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Court will adopt a strict scrutiny when assessing a poli ...
Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp.
Citation429 U.S. 252 (1977) Brief Fact Summary. Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation sued the Village of Arlington Heights alleging that the Village’s denial of its rezoning request was racially discriminatory in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Official action will not be held unconstitutional solely because it results in a racially disproportionate impact. ...
United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (The Sugar Trust Case)
Citation156 U.S. 1 (1895) Brief Fact Summary. The respondent, E.C. Knight Co., sought the cancellation of stock agreements made by the American Sugar Refining Company that made the company acquire nearly complete control of the manufacture of refined sugar within the United States, alleging that such monopoly violates the Commerce Clause. Synopsis of Rule of Law. A State shall have the power to protect the lives, health and property of its citizens and to preserve good order and the public morals. The power to govern citizens within its limits is ...
United States v. Causby
Citation328 U.S. 256 (1946) Brief Fact Summary. Respondents, who owned a dwelling house and buildings used to raise chickens, had lost chickens due to the noise of the aircraft that fly near their property. Respondents sued the Government for violation of the Takings Clause. Synopsis of Rule of Law. If the flights over one party’s property rendered it uninhabitable, there would be a taking compensable under the Fifth Amendment. It is the owner’s loss, not the taker’s gain, which is the measure of the value of the property taken. ...
Slaughter-House Cases
Citation. 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873) Brief Fact Summary. Some butchers in Louisiana challenged the Louisiana statute that prohibited slaughtering animals in the State and butchers must slaughter only at a certain place and pay a utility fee. Synopsis of Rule of Law. With the exception of a few restrictions, the entire domain of the privileges and immunities of citizens of the States lay within the constitutional and legislative power of the States, and without that of the Federal Government. ...
Rust v. Sullivan
Citation500 U.S. 173 (1991) Brief Fact Summary. Petitioners challenged the regulations under Title X of the Public Health Service Act alleging the violation of the First Amendment by impermissibly discriminating based on viewpoint because they prohibit all discussion about abortion as a lawful option. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Government can, without violating the Constitution, selectively fund a program to encourage certain activities it believes to be in the public interest, without at the same time funding an alternate program which see ...
Rucho, et al. v. Common Cause, et al
Citation139 S. Ct. 2484 (2019) Brief Fact Summary. Voter in North Carolina and Maryland challenged their states’ congressional districting maps as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. Plaintiffs in North Carolina complained that the state’s districting plan discriminated against Democrats and those in Maryland complained that their state’s plan discriminated against Republicans. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Any standard for resolving partisan gerrymandering claims must be grounded in a limited and precise rationale and be clear, manag ...
Plessy v. Ferguson
Citation163 U.S. 537 (1896) Brief Fact Summary. The petitioners challenged the Louisiana statute that provided for separate but equal railway carriages for the white and colored races. Synopsis of Rule of Law. While the Fourteenth Amendment seeks to ensure equality among different races, it does not seek to abolish distinctions based upon color. ...
Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney
Citation442 U.S. 256 (1979) Brief Fact Summary. The Massachusetts veterans’ preference statute was challenged on the ground that it discriminates against women in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Under the statute, all veterans who qualify for state civil service positions must be considered for appointment ahead of any qualifying nonveterans. The preference operates overwhelmingly to the advantage of males. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Classifications based upon gender must bear a close and substantial relations ...
National League of Cities v. Usery
Citation426 U.S. 833 (1976) Brief Fact Summary. Appellants contend that the 1974 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act, while undoubtedly within the scope of the Commerce Clause, encounter a constitutional barrier because they are to be applied directly to the States and subdivisions of States as employers. Synopsis of Rule of Law. There are limits upon the power of Congress to override state sovereignty, even when exercising its otherwise plenary powers to tax or to regulate commerce which are conferred by the Constitution. ...
Massachusetts v. Mellon; Frothingham v. Mellon
Citation202 U.S. 447 (1923) Brief Fact Summary. It is asserted that the appropriations constitute an effective means of inducing the States to yield a portion of their sovereign rights. In the Massachusetts case, the plaintiff asserted that his rights and powers as a sovereign State and the rights of its citizens have been invaded and usurped by the expenditures and acts. In the Frothingham case, plaintiff alleges that the effect of the statute will be to take her property, under the guise of taxation, without due process of law. Synopsis of Rule of ...
Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, et al.
Citation138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018) Brief Fact Summary. Respondents challenged the Illinois law that forces public employees to subsidize a union, even if they choose not to join and strongly object to the positions the union takes in collective bargaining and related activities. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Compelling individuals to mouth support for views they find objectionable violates the Constitution’s free speech right and any such effort would be universally condemned. ...
Houston, East & West Texas Railway v. United States (The Shreveport Case)
Citation234 U.S. 342 (1914) Brief Fact Summary. The Houston, East&West Texas Railway Company, the Houston & Shreveport Railroad Company, and the Texas&Pacific Railway Company brought suits in the Commerce Court to set aside an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission on the ground that it exceeded the Commission’s authority. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Congress has the power to regulate commerce among the several States and interstate trade is not left to be destroyed or impeded by the rivalries of local governments. &n ...
Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus
Citation438 U.S. 234 (1978) Brief Fact Summary. The company at issue challenged the Private Pension Benefits Protection Act that required it to provide a pension funding charge to its discharged employees, claiming that the Act unconstitutionally impaired its contractual obligations to its employees under its pension agreement. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Although the absolute language of the Contract Clause must leave room for the essential attributes of sovereign power, necessarily reserved by the States to safeguard the welfare of their citizen ...
Ferguson v. Skrupa
Citation. 372 U.S. 726, 83 S.Ct. 1028, 10 L.Ed.2d 93 (1963). Brief Fact Summary. A debt adjustor business successfully challenged a law prohibiting its business on Due Process grounds and the state of Kansas filed an appeal. Synopsis of Rule of Law. Courts do not substitute their social and economic beliefs for the judgement of legislative bodies, who are elected to pass laws. ...
Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett
Citation. 531 U.S. 356, 121 S.Ct. 955, 148 L.Ed.2d 866 (2001). Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiffs were denied accommodations for their documented disabilities by their employers and filed suit under the ADA. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The ADA provision requiring reasonable accommodations for disabled workers is unconstitutional when applied to state workers. ...
Boumediene v. Bush
Citation. 553 U.S. 723, 128 S.Ct. 2229, 171 L.Ed.2d 41 (2008). Brief Fact Summary. Guantanamo Bay detainees were denied the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus by the MCA. The DTA provided for limited review of the military tribunal’s decisions, but it denied the detainees the right to present evidence discovered after their initial hearing. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Suspension Clause’s protections extend the privilege of habeas corpus to detainees located within areas where the United States has complete jurisdiction and control. ...
City of Houston, Texas v. Hill
Citation. 482 U.S. 451, 107 S.Ct. 2502, 96 L.Ed.2d 398 (1987). Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff brought suit to invalidate a Houston ordinance that prohibited willful and intentional interruption of a police officer by verbal challenge during an investigation on First Amendment grounds. Synopsis of Rule of Law. A law is unconstitutional if it criminalizes a substantial amount of constitutionally protected speech and gives the police unconstitutional discretion in enforcement. ...
Ferguson v. Skrupa
Citation. 372 U.S. 726, 83 S.Ct. 1028, 10 L.Ed.2d 93 (1963). Brief Fact Summary. A debt adjustor business successfully challenged a law prohibiting its business on Due Process grounds and the state of Kansas filed an appeal. . Synopsis of Rule of Law. Courts do not substitute their social and economic beliefs for the judgement of legislative bodies, who are elected to pass laws. ...
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
Citation. 567 U.S. 519, 132 S.Ct. 2566, 183 L.Ed.2d 450 (2012) Brief Fact Summary. The Government argued that the “individual mandate,” a provision in the Affordable Care Act that would have required Americans to have minimum health insurance coverage or be subjected to a penalty, was within Congress’ Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause powers. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Commerce Clause grants Congress broad authority to “regulate commerce,” but it cannot create commerce. To allow Congress to compel people to act, based on the aggregate e ...
Pennsylvania v. Board of City of Trusts
Citation. 353 U.S. 230, 77 S.Ct. 806, 1 L.Ed.2d 792 (1957). Brief Fact Summary. An individual created a college for poor white male orphans, which later denied admission to two Black men. They, along with the city and state, filed suit, arguing the denial violated their constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment. Synopsis of Rule of Law. A trust, donated by private funds, but administered by a public body, is considered to be a state actor for purposes of 14th Amendment analysis. ...
Plessy v. Ferguson
Citation. 163 U.S. 537, 16 S.Ct. 1138, 41 L.Ed. 256 (1896). Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff challenged an 1890 Louisiana law that required railway passenger cars have separate railway cars based on race. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The legislature is at liberty to act with reference to the established usages, customs, and traditions of the people, and with a view to the promotion of their comfort, and the preservation of peace and good order. ...
Zorach v. Clauson
Citation. 343 U.S. 306, 72 S.Ct. 679, 96 L.Ed. 954 (1952). Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiffs challenged a New York City program which permitted public school children to leave to attend religious instruction, arguing it violated the First Amendment. ...