The Civil Constitutional and Civil Rights Docket in Plain English
on Dec 31, 2009 at 7:42 pm
This group contains most of the cases involving constitutional and civil rights claims. There are several significant free speech cases, as well as other important constitutional law cases.
Click the links below to scroll directly to cases of that subcategory, or browse the entire list below them.
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Title: Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Docket: 08-1151
Argument date: December 2, 2009
Question presented: The Florida Supreme Court held that when the state deposited sand to stop erosion, that land became the state’s property. The question presented is whether that ruling violated the federal Constitution, including because it constituted a “taking†of private property without compensation.
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Title: Free Enterprise Fund and Beckstead and Watts, LLP v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Docket: 08-861
Argument date: December 7, 2009
Question presented: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has various powers related to regulating public companies. The question presented is whether the Board’s structure violates the Constitution because the President does not have the direct power to appoint or remove Board members, or to direct the Board’s decisions.
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Title: Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project; Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder
Argument date: February 23, 2010
Question presented: Is the federal law criminalizing providing support for terrorist groups unconstitutional because it is either too vague or violates the right to free speech?
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Title: McDonald v. City of Chicago
Docket: 08-1521
Argument date: March 2, 2010
Question presented: Does the constitutional right to bear arms apply to state and local gun laws?
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Title: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Docket: 08-205
Argument date: September 9, 2009
Question presented: What is the nature and extent of corporations’ constitutional free-speech right to spend money in election campaigns?
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Title: United States v. Stevens
Docket: 08-769
Argument date: October 6, 2009
Question presented: Does a law making it illegal to create, sell, or possess images of animal cruelty for commercial gain violate the right to free speech?
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Title: Salazar v. Buono
Docket: 08-472
Argument date: October 7, 2009
Question presented: The case presents two questions arising from a cross that was erected on public land. First, what kind of injury must a defendant who objects to a religious display have suffered in order to file suit? Second, can the government eliminate any objection under the Constitution’s requirement of separation of church and state by turning over the land on which the display sits to a private party?
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Title: Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A. v. United States; United States v. Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P.A.
Argument date: December 1, 2009
Question presented: Does federal bankruptcy law forbid lawyers from advising their clients to take on more debt when filing for bankruptcy and, if so, is that an unconstitutional violation of their right to free speech?
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Title: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
Docket: 08-1371
Argument date: Will be set for argument in March or April 2010
Question presented: Does the First Amendment permit a state university to deny recognition and funds to a religious group that requires its members and leaders to share the organization’s values, which conflict with the university’s non-discrimination rules?
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Title: Pottawattamie County v. McGhee
Docket: 08-1065
Argument date: November 4, 2009
Question presented: May a criminal defendant sue a prosecutor for presenting false testimony in order to wrongfully convict the defendant?
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Title: Lewis v. City of Chicago
Docket: 08-974
Argument date: February 22, 2010
Question presented: Federal law sets a short deadline to file a “charge” with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to challenge discrimination by an employer, which is a prerequisite to later filing a lawsuit in court. The question is whether the deadline starts to run on the day the employer announces the act or instead on the later day the employer implements it.
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Title: Hui v. Castaneda
Docket: 08-1529; 08-1547 (this case was consolidated with Henneford v. Castaneda)
Argument date: March 2, 2010
Question presented: Must a lawsuit claiming that employees of the federal Public Health Service committed medical error be filed under a federal statute that makes the United States the defendant, or can the employees be sued personally for violating the Constitution?
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Title: Samantar v. Yousuf
Docket: 08-1555
Argument date: March 3, 2010
Question presented: Does federal law permit a plaintiff to file a suit in this country against a former official of a foreign government for alleged human rights abuses he committed overseas while in office?
