Today in Supreme Court History: April 5, 1982

4/5/1982: Justice Abe Fortas dies.

Justice Abe Fortas

Comments

[Dr. Ed 2]

I would love to see a law school professor write an OBJECTIVE article on him and ethics. If the standard MAGA is held to had been applied then, I have no doubt both he and LBJ would have been impeached. But would it have been justified?

It's more than a sitting Justice writing LBJ's State of the Union speech, although that alone -- well, isn't that *something*?

[Frank Drackman]

Hey, if LBJ had lost in 64' Goldwater would have got us into a war in Vietnam!

[Mr. Bumble]

I thought Goldwater would get us in WWIII.
The "famous" Daisy ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTBnsqxZ3k

[Dr. Ed 2]

He wouldn't have let it turn into a quagmire like it did.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., 593 U.S. — (decided April 5, 2021): Google wins copyright lawsuit; its partial copying of Java SE to operate Android platform was “fair use” (and not only that, the “fair use” defense was not “at law”, so no Seventh Amendment right to jury trial) (Google had tried to purchase the full copyright but owner insisted on open source interoperability — horrors! that’s not how you make money in the software world!!)

Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815 (decided April 5, 1971): upholding statute under which someone born outside the United States (e.g., both of the Republicans who ran against Barack Obama) loses citizenship if doesn’t reside in the United States for 5 years between the ages of 14 and 28 (statute has since been changed)

Conn v. Gabbert, 526 U.S. 286 (decided April 5, 1999): Just when client is about to testify before a grand jury, police served warrant on attorney for personal search of letter written by the defendant (one of the “Menendez brothers”). Attorney went to private room and produced the letter, missing the chance to represent his client. His §1983 action against prosecutor (violation of Fourteenth Amendment right to practice his profession) dismissed because attorney didn’t ask judge to postpone testimony and client did not have right to attorney in front of grand jury anyway.

Murphy Bros. v. Michetti Pipe Stringing, Inc., 526 U.S. 344 (decided April 5, 1999): Can’t use fax to serve process! (this was from the days of the slick’n’slimy fax paper). 30-day removal period began not with faxing Complaint but by formal service (here, by certified mail per local law). (But what if there’s more than one defendant? Does the removal time run from the first served defendant or the last served? Still a split of authority!)

United States v. Texas, 507 U.S. 529 (decided April 5, 1993): Texas has to reimburse the federal government for food stamps stolen by United States Postal Service workers?? Apparently. To add insult to injury, the Court here holds that even though the Debt Collection Act does not allow prejudgment interest, the U.S. has a common law right to pursue it (so does the $ collected go to the people who should have gotten the food stamps?)

Mills v. Habluetzel, 456 U.S. 91 (decided April 5, 1982): denial of Equal Protection to hold mothers of “illegitimate” children to standard one-year deadline to bring paternity suits due to problems of assembling proof

Evans v. Bennett, 440 U.S. 1301 (decided April 5, 1979): granting stay of execution pending hearing on mother’s habeas corpus petition even though son desires execution

Kitchens v. Smith, 401 U.S. 847 (decided April 5, 1971): defendant should have had an attorney appointed for him even though he didn’t specifically request one; simply saying “I don’t have any money” and “I don’t have a lawyer” was enough

Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400 (decided April 5, 1965): Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause applies to state prosecutions

Reinman v. City of Little Rock, 237 U.S. 171 (decided April 5, 1915): not a denial of Equal Protection for city to prohibit livery stables in densely populated area to prevent spread of disease; Court will not disturb state supreme court’s ruling that it was within the city’s powers do to this (I suppose this decision validates zoning regulations in general)

[John F. Carr]

McCain was born in the Canal Zone, a situation much like Obama's. Romney was born in Detroit.

[apedad]

Obama was born in 1961 in Hawaii which was a state (became a state in 1959).

Why is that situation like McCain's?

[John F. Carr]

There was a whole lot of arguing online about the status of a person born in pre-statehood Hawaii. I thought that was because Obama was born shortly before statehood. No, it was just irrelevant arguing on the internet.

[SRG]

a situation much like Obama’s. Romney was born in Detroit.

Well, Obama was born in Hawaii, in the US, so not really much like. I think that Captcrisis may have confused Romney with his father, who was born in Mexico.

[Michael P]

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/promotional-booklet/

Do not worry, it is a simple fact checking error to hallucinate where someone was born entirely free of input from that person or any other factual basis.

[SRG]

And meanwhile a Hawaiian newspaper entry and his actual birth certificate say otherwise. But there will always be people who don't understand quality of evidence.

[Dan Schiavetta]

SRG,
True! Sorry. (His father also ran for President!)

[Dr. Ed 2]

The Canal Zone was considered US Territory, the USGS sold topographical maps of it.

[Dan Schiavetta]

The Senate still found it necessary to declare McCain a citizen. The resolution was sponsored by Hillary Clinton.

[Mr. Bumble]

Since when was the Senate empowered to "declare" who was a citizen?

[Dan Schiavetta]

Congress can declare someone a citizen. I don't have the cite right now (a rare day when I actually have some lawyer work to do).

If I recall, the purpose was to take the issue off the table because other Republicans kept making noises about McCain (the whisper campaign in the 2000 primaries about his out of wedlock child, "Singing John", and later, Trump saying he "preferred people who weren't captured") and they wanted to at least squelch this one.

[Mr. Bumble]

Maybe so, but the Senate is not Congress.

[Syd Henderson]

If I remember it was Ron Paul’s campaign that brought it up. Sort of a trial run for the Obama birther nonsense. I’d think being born on a naval base to US Citizens in a territory under US control would be sufficient for natural-born citizenship. Also, if Obama had been born in Hawaii in 1958, he also would be.

Ted Cruz is more problematic since he was born in Canada and his father is Cuban.

[Mr. Bumble]

Maybe it's time to codify just what makes one a citizen of the US?

[Frank Drackman]

Whats the problem? he's not qualfied for POTUS, yet due to the idiocy of "Birthright Citizenship" (hiding in the Penumbra) If one of Osama Bin Laden's wifes gave birth just over the border the bastard would be.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Being a Citizen doesn't make one a "natural born" citizen.

[Bob from Ohio]

Dr Ed, smarter than capt crisis.

[David Nieporent]

Being a citizen at birth does.

[Bob from Ohio]

"resolution was sponsored by Hillary Clinton"

So she could embarrass McCain. She's never done anything with good intentions in her life.

[Frank Drackman]

McCain's dad was an African Moose-lum?? I thought he was a Navy Admiral.

[John F. Carr]

Did Texas have a claim against USPS? If so, does the judgment include interest on the interest paid by Texas to the United States?

[Dan Schiavetta]

I couldn't find such in the opinion.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"(I suppose this decision validates zoning regulations in general)"

Didn't that have to wait for Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926)?

[Dan Schiavetta]

Euclid is a more sweeping decision, but one could just as easily use Reinman.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

OK!