Today in Supreme Court History: June 11, 1993

6/11/1993: Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah decided.

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (decided June 11, 1993): ordinance prohibiting unnecessary killing of animal in ceremony not for use as food (Santería) struck down as violating church’s First Amendment rights (ordinance was passed “in direct response to the opening of the church” — but what if it was preexisting?)

Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, 584 U.S. — (decided June 11, 2018): Ohio’s presumption that voters who don’t return card and don’t vote for four years have moved (and are therefore struck from the rolls) upheld as consistent with National Voter Registration Act of 1993

Sveen v. Melin, 584 U.S. — (decided June 11, 2018): applying Minnesota’s statute automatically revoking claim on life insurance upon divorce to pre-statute policies did not violate Contracts Clause, art. I, §10, cl. 1; did not change the expectations of the policyholder or of ex-wife (questionable decision; there are various kinds of divorce)

Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (decided June 11, 2001): police needed warrant to use thermal-imaging device to detect high-intensity lamps (used to grow marijuana in a house; I had a friend who used to do that, circa 1982) because device not in general public use and revealed information otherwise unobtainable without physical intrusion

United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (decided June 11, 1990): struck down another flag desecration law (like Texas v. Johnson) on First Amendment grounds; unlike in Johnson, this one did not require that flag desecration be associated with a political message (Doonesbury had a good comic strip on this: the first panel had an American flag and Mike Doonesbury dared readers to throw the newspaper out, unavoidably desecrating the flag and committing a crime)

Great American Federal Savings & Loan v. Novotny, 442 U.S. 366 (decided June 11, 1979): male fired after complaining of discrimination against female employees might have Title VII claim but can’t sue directly under 42 U.S.C. §1985(3) (conspiracy to deprive of civil rights); must go through EEOC first

Bluefield Water Works v. Public Service Comm’n, 262 U.S. 679 (decided June 11, 1923): order setting public utility’s rates so low that it wouldn’t earn a return was a “taking” without just compensation

China Agritech Inc. v. Resh, 584 U.S. — (decided June 11, 2018): failure-to-get-class-certification tolling of statute of limitations available to putative class members to sue on their own (American Pipe v. Utah, 1974) does not apply to future attempts at class action

Nix v. United States, 467 U.S. 431 (decided June 11, 1984): evidence is not excluded which would have been discovered anyway despite police misconduct (body would have been found anyway even though location told to police when being denied right to counsel) (“independent source rule” and “inevitable discovery rule”)

Paine Lumber Co. v. Neal, 244 U.S. 459 (decided June 11, 1917): Sherman Act does not provide for private parties going to court to stop alleged restraint on trade (here, windowmaking companies trying to stop a union boycott)

[F.D. Wolf]

Desi Arnaz (as Ricky Ricardo) sings "Babalu".

https://youtu.be/rAV3bOJaQuY

[Dr. Ed 2]

"Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (decided June 11, 2001): police needed warrant to use thermal-imaging device to detect high-intensity lamps (used to grow marijuana in a house;"

The other trick they would do is evaluate electric power bills (which one would presume to be private) to determine significant increases and decreases in consumption unrelated to weather and/or in houses that didn't have electric heat (which is expensive).

Some lobstering families have two homes -- one out on a remote island near the fishing grounds, and another inshore one -- and live inshore during the school year as the island has no high school. And yes, the Intrepid State of Maine accused them of having indoor growing operations although they quickly realized that the "peak" usage was about what one would expect a house to be using.

Neither this nor the heat signature would work now with the shift to the blue & red LEDs which are inherently more efficient although (I'm told) terrible for human eyesight.

[Krayt]

I seem to remember another case, of them requesting this info without a warrant. The punch line: sucks to be a person taking advantage of modern conveniences, because government gets to spy on you.

[bevis the lumberjack]

The stupid war on drugs always trumps property rights. Spying, civil asset forfeiture, etc. The government knows that failing to stop drug use is better for us than those silly rights that are supposed to limit them anyway.

Hope nobody is triggered by my use of the word “trumps”.

[Dr. Ed 2]

"(Doonesbury had a good comic strip on this: the first panel had an American flag and Mike Doonesbury dared readers to throw the newspaper out, unavoidably desecrating the flag and committing a crime)"

Memory is that was in response to Bush 41's proposal for a Constitutional Amendment to overturn TX v Johnson.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Maybe you're right. It was a long time ago and it's hard to search the internet for particular strips.

[Noscitur a sociis]

it’s hard to search the internet for particular strips.

Yeah, it took almost a full 30 seconds.

https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1989/11/05

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks for the link but not for the snottiness.

[Noscitur a sociis]

Don't know what to tell you. I'd never heard of this strip before and I still found it almost immediately by searching for "doonesvury american flag desecrstion" (sic).

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

It appears the lone law professor at this blog interested in discussing the federal indictment of Donald J. Trump is the right-leaning libertarian. The conservatives are uniformly avoiding the issues.

Why?

Concern about federal job prospects?

Concern about right-wing street cred?

Does the rate at which Trump is churning lawyers disincline them to quash a chance to suck at the teat of Trump Litigation: Elite Strike Force?

Are they afraid their views will be ridiculed and derided (by mainstream America, for defending Trump, or by their fellow Republicans, for expressing objection to the conduct described by the government in court filings or an opinion that the indictment is well-crafted and serious)?

Or are they, in keeping with their stated aim of making right-wing thinking more palatable among a broader audience, simply ducking developments that place Republicans and conservatives in a bad, un-American light?

[Dr. Ed 2]

0r are they perhaps in shock that Team Bite Me actually went this far. I remember when Meritless Garland was mentioned as a reasonable, politically neutral choice for AG.

I fear for the future of the republic.

[Noscitur a sociis]

What role do you think Merrick Garland played in this indictment?

[arpiniant1]

??????????????

[Dan Schiavetta]

I don’t think chickens killed in a Santería ritual suffer any more than those killed for food. Their heads are simply chopped off. The issue is not cruelty but the killing being “unnecessary” (from a non-Santería viewpoint).

Maybe off topic, but . . . I grew up in the family deli, cutting up headless, plucked, eviscerated chickens into eighths. (I’m still good at it — remember to take the breastbone out first, and cut into the “knee” just above the white part!) My wife is from the Dominican Republic, and I once tagged along with her ten-year-old niece to buy chickens at the local market. (This was in Samaná in 1994, a rural and African kind of place, barefoot women carrying big jars and baskets by balancing them on their heads without hands, which requires a stately, regal way of walking which I found very attractive.) At the market my niece stood by as they beheaded the chickens for her. I couldn’t watch.

[Krayt]

It would seem to depend how they worded it. A pre-existing law that denied killing for "ritual ceremony" would seem to step on religion deliberately. Facetiously arguing it denies the Scooby Doo club ritual dog sacrifice, and so is general purpose, and so gets the honor of stepping on religion, just suggests religion should be exempt anyway.

"Nobody is permitted to own or run a printing press inside town" is fine if nobody is doing so. When someone opens up a shop...

[Mr. Bumble]

Thank you captanecdote.