29 June 2016

The United States Supreme Court strikes down Texas restrictions on abortion doctors; upholds University of Texas’ race conscious admission plan; reminds federal agencies they must explain why they change their views on a statute they enforce; rejects suppression of evidence when an officer discovers there is an arrest warrant out for a person they have illegally stopped; holds decision to initiate review of a patent is not judicially reviewable; rejects extraterritorial private RICO cause of action; holds robbing a marijuana dealer is per se violation the Hobbs Act; concludes violations of Iowa’s burglary statute are not violent felonies for career criminal purposes; approves warrantless breath tests DUI cases; narrowly construes the public corrupt statute and holds reckless domestic violence misdemeanor convictions trigger a lifetime ban on possessing firearms.

by William Gaskill

24 March 2016

This week, the United States Supreme Court affirmed a class certification based on representative time studies; held United States Park Service regulation of public and nonpublic lands in Alaska may be Alaska specific; held the Omaha tribal reservation has not shrunk; and order Massachusetts to analyze the issue of whether stun gun use in self-defense is protected by the 2nd Amendment under correct legal standards.

by William Gaskill

26 June 2015

10th Circuit holds Pueblo Indian Tribe’s aboriginal title to certain land was not abolished by a land grant to non-Indian family; rejects Second Amendment challenge to ban on firearms at post offices; affirmed witness tampering conviction; and holds retirement funds become part of bankruptcy estate in Colorado when distributed.

by William Gaskill