Today in Supreme Court History: April 26, 1995

4/26/1995: U.S. v. Lopez decided.

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (decided April 26, 1995): Gun-Free School Zones Act (prohibiting guns in school zone) exceeds Commerce Clause power because gun possession is not economic activity; 5 – 4 decision

Small v. United States, 544 U.S. 385 (decided April 26, 2005): 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1) (prohibiting gun possession by anyone “convicted in any court” of crime punishable by more than one year) does not apply to foreign convictions (here, in Japan for smuggling guns) (§922 was recently declared unconstitutional on Second Amendment grounds, 61 F.4th 443, 3/2/23; cert. petition is being briefed)

Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U.S. 762 (decided April 26, 1977): invalidating on Equal Protection grounds Illinois statute allowing non-marital children to inherit from intestate mothers but not from intestate fathers

Heffernan v. City of Paterson, N.J., 578 U.S. 266 (decided April 26, 2016): valid §1983 claim after demotion even though superiors were mistaken about plaintiff (a policeman) impermissibly participating in political activity (he was at campaign headquarters for mayor’s opponent not to help with campaign but to pick up yard sign as favor to his bedridden mother)

Hartman v. Moore, 547 U.S. 250 (decided April 26, 2006): one suing federal officials for malicious prosecution (an example of a Bivens suit, the federal analog of a §1983 suit against state officials) must show absence of probable cause for prosecution

Beck v. Prupis, 529 U.S. 494 (decided April 26, 2000): former president of company could not bring RICO action after being terminated on trumped-up charges after discovering and punishing corruption among subordinates because firing him was independent of the corruption (?)

Pasquantinov v. United States, 544 U.S. 349 (decided April 26, 2005): Canada liquor taxes are “property” within meaning of Wire Fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. §1343, so scheme to defraud can be prosecuted despite rule at common law that courts can’t enforce tax laws of foreign sovereigns (I’m almost quoting from Thomas’s elegant 3-sentence introduction) (defendants smuggled liquor in from Canada without paying Canadian excise taxes) (so if the Court, as allowed by the statute, imposes a fine instead of a sentence, does the money go to the Canadian government?)

New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Ins. Co., 514 U.S. 645 (decided April 26, 1995): ERISA did not preempt New York statute placing surcharges on benefits from hospital insurance plans governed by ERISA

Edenfield v. Fane, 507 U.S. 761 (decided April 26, 1993): First Amendment violated by statute banning in-person solicitation by CPA’s (it’s wrong for the public to be denied such unexpected exciting encounters)

Long Island Water-Supply Co. v. City of Brooklyn, N.Y., 166 U.S. 685 (decided April 26, 1897): In 1886 the town of New Lots was annexed by the City of Brooklyn, which changed the conditions of a water supply contract. The Court here holds that this did not violate Contracts Clause, art. I, §10.

[John F. Carr]

The Rahimi decision did not invalidate all of 18 USC 922, only one clause. The cert petition is 22-915. The public defender has asked for an extension of time to file a response.

Roberts has reassured the public that federal gun rules will generally not be invalidated by the revival of the Second Amendment.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks. You’re right, Rahimi invalidated only the provision restricting the gun rights of wife beaters. Though in fairness that was the only issue in front of the court, which was bound by Bruen. I’ll make the change for future use.

[John F. Carr]

Not even gun rights of wife beaters. Domestic abuse convictions fall under a different clause. Gun rights of people who are considered likely to beat their wives.

[Dan Schiavetta]

To anyone who (like me) has worked in the field of domestic violence, it’s the same thing. The order of protection mentioned in g(8) is what happens after the visible bruises and the flight to the shelter. To wait for a conviction is a joke.

[Dr. Ed 2]

And yet, as a "janitor" at UMass (:)) I got to see a lot of the other side. 209As are handed out like parking tickets...

[John F. Carr]

Under 18 USC 922 a felony indictment is as good as a felony conviction. For a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence a conviction is required.

[Dr. Ed 2]

What ever happened to the challenge to the lifetime mental health ban?

[John F. Carr]

"First Amendment violated by statute banning in-person solicitation by CPA’s (it’s wrong for the public to be denied such unexpected exciting encounters)."

So you can probably also go door to door advertising exciting CLEs.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I knew someone was going to say that.

[John F. Carr]

Canadian liquor taxes set the precedent, but it is cigarette taxes that are a big deal. There is a healthy industry smuggling cigarettes into high tax jurisdictions like Canada and "blue" states. Within the United States one used to be able to get cigarettes cheap from Indian tribes. In the mid-2000s states got a windfall when interstate sellers were required to report cigarette sales to states so states could assess use tax. More recently, according to the Internet, tribes became responsible for collecting tax.

[Dr. Ed 2]

There was some nastiness between the tribes and state of NY on that. Tribal members arrested at one point.

[SRG]

Heffernan is interesting. The Talmudic argument would be, how much more are you entitled to sue if you didn't even commit the action you're being punished for, not the very opposite. (And the Sages agree.)

[Dan Schiavetta]

I don't think this cop would have been fired if it was the mayor's campaign he was getting a sign for.

[John F. Carr]

I imagine a game sometimes, shuffle all the local police agencies so they work different towns for a week. Imagine a cop who doesn’t know who the mayor’s friends are. Doesn’t know that an ordinance is only supposed to be enforced when a resident complains.

A former police chief in my area was eulogized with a favorite memory of a resident. A bunch of angry residents came in waving parking tickets. Parking tickets! He, of course, would never ticket residents. But he had let a state police officer have a ticket book and the state police officer didn’t know that parking tickets were only for nonresidents.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I love it -- although wouldn't he have to deputize the statie?

[John F. Carr]

I don't know. There is some chance the tickets were legally invalid. On the other hand, parking tickets in larger cities are often written by meter maids instead of police.

[SRG]

No kidding!