Today in Supreme Court History: April 5, 1982

4/5/1982: Justice Abe Fortas dies.

Justice Abe Fortas

Comments

[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 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 was 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 in 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)

[Martinned2]

I know we talked about it just the other day, but for completeness (quoting Wikipedia):

Fortas remained an associate justice, but in 1969, a new scandal arose. Fortas had accepted a US $20,000 (equivalent to $166,000 in 2023) retainer from the family foundation of Wall Street financier Louis Wolfson, a friend and former client, in January 1966. In return for unspecified advice, it was to pay Fortas $20,000 a year for the rest of Fortas's life (and then pay his widow for the rest of her life). However, in order to avoid apparent impropriety, Fortas returned the money the same year and received no further payments. Fortas was not unique in receiving this type of funding and other Justices had similar arrangements. William O. Douglas, Fortas's mentor, likewise received funding from casino magnate Albert Parvin through his own foundation. The American Bar Association revamped its rules as a result of the Wolfson affair, revising circumstances under which judges should not accept outside income.

Wolfson was under investigation for securities violations at the time, and it was alleged that he expected that his arrangement with Fortas would help him stave off criminal charges or help him secure a presidential pardon. He asked Fortas to help him secure a pardon from Johnson, which Fortas claimed that he did not do. Fortas recused himself from Wolfson's case when it came before the Court.

In May 1969, Life magazine chronicled Fortas's tangled relations with Wolfson. The revelation engendered calls for Fortas to be impeached, and motivated Richard Nixon, who knew that Fortas's resignation would enable the appointment of a more conservative Justice, to order the Justice Department to investigate Fortas. Nixon was unsure if an investigation or prosecution was legal, but was convinced by then-Assistant Attorney General and future Chief Justice William Rehnquist that it would be. Chief Justice Earl Warren (who, like the other Justices, was unaware of Nixon's actions) urged Fortas to resign to protect the reputation of the Court and avoid impeachment proceedings, as did Justice Hugo Black. However, when Fortas said it would "kill" his wife, Black changed his mind, realized that Nixon wanted Fortas off the Court for political reasons, and urged Fortas not to resign. Nonetheless, Fortas ultimately decided resignation would be best for him and for his wife's legal career after Attorney General John N. Mitchell threatened to prosecute him, and potentially investigate his wife for tax evasion. On the subject of his resignation, William J. Brennan later said, "We were just stunned." Fortas later said he "resigned to save Douglas," another justice who was being investigated for a similar scandal at the same time. Fortas resigned from the Court on May 14, 1969.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Sounds like Fortas had a conflict of interest but undid it. And got forced into resigning by corrupt politicians (Mitchell, Nixon).

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

You think there are any non-corrupt politicians? The very act of being a politician and wanting to tell everyone else what to do is corrupt.

[Michael Resanovic]

That's the job everyone else gave them.

[Martinned2]

I do wonder why the American Bar Association is making rules for judges. Ethics rules for judges seems more of a job for the legislature or the judiciary itself.

[Noscitur a sociis]

The ABA makes model rules and codes of conduct. They don’t have any effect unless an actual governing body adopts them for a given jurisdiction.

[David Nieporent]

The ABA doesn't "make" rules. It sets forth what it thinks would be good ones, and actual rulemaking bodies are free to adopt them in whole or in part. That's true for ethics rules for both judges and ordinary lawyers.

[SRG2]

Roberts would no doubt have said that in the absence of an explicit quid pro quo there was nothing to see. Or perhaps a latter-day Fortas would simply say, "I forgot to mention it"...

[bernard11]

Yes.

[bernard11]

The entire Wiki article is worth reading. Fortas had quite an impressive career before his nomination to the Court.

Among other things, he represented Gideon of Gideon vs. Wainwright.

[apedad]

O/T

Border Patrol must care for migrant children it locks up, federal judge rules

The (Customers and Border Protection, CBP) agency may not have intended for temporary camping sites to become polluted open air detention sites “collectively holding thousands of migrants,” (Judge Dolly) Gee conceded.

But she added the situation has “evolved such that the minors held there” are in the agency’s legal custody — and therefore it is responsible to care for them.

Gee determined it didn’t matter that the children had not been formally processed: They were held in a fenced area to which they were forcibly returned if they tried to leave, by an agency with “decision-making authority over [their] health and welfare,” she wrote in the ruling.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4574773-border-patrol-must-care-for-migrant-children-it-locks-up-federal-judge-rules/

Building safe and reliable camps is easily done and has been done for the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[bernard11]

Good for Judge Gee.

Why this even should be controversial is amazing. From apedad's link:

National standards for migrant detention require kids to get a meal every six hours, and two hot meals per day; generally, migrants in the detention sites get “one bottle of water and one pack of crackers” each day, according to the court.

Also, the insufficiently abundant and infrequently cleaned dumpsters and portable toilets “are unflowing and unusable,” Gee found.

“This means that the [open-air detention sites] not only have a foul smell, but also that trash is strewn about, and [migrants] are forced to relieve themselves outdoors.”

And the Border Patrol defends all this how?

The U.S. Border Patrol largely didn’t challenge the idea that the conditions weren’t adequate. Instead, it argued the court didn’t have jurisdiction over the agency on this issue because the agency had not formally taken on responsibility for the children by processing them.

"Not our fault. There are some forms we haven't filled out yet."

[Krayt]

How did this even get to be an issue?

[bernard11]

Don't know. Negligence or not giving a shit, I guess.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Sir Humphrey Appleby would find a way to explain it, so that in the end you say, "Gee, he's got a point."

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Trump holdovers in the immigration bureaucracy?

[apedad]

CBP isn't organized to build camps and facilities, so they would have to contract out this support.

And that would depend if they have funds/approval to do such things.

The law sez they have to do this but with govt agencies, if you don't have the authorized funds, then it doesn't get done.