United States Supreme Court - June 2005 Opinion Summaries

Van Orden v. Perry

Constitutional Law, Government Law
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment allows the display of a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments on the Texas State Capitol...

Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales

Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Injury & Tort Law
An individual who has obtained a state-law restraining order does not have a constitutionally protected property interest in having the police enforce...

Bell v. Thompson

Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing
In a death sentence case, following the denial of defendant's petition for certiorari, the Court of Appeals abused its discretion when it withheld its...

McCreary County v. ACLU

Constitutional Law, Government Law
A county's manifest objective may be dispositive for determining whether a display of the Ten Commandments in courthouses violates the Establishment...

MGM, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.

Copyright, Cyberspace Law, Intellectual Property
One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken...

Nat'l Cable & Telecomm. Ass'n v. Brand X Internet Serv.

Administrative Law, Communications Law, Cyberspace Law
The FCC's conclusion, finding that broadband cable modem companies are exempt from mandatory common-carrier regulation, is a lawful construction of...

Kelo v. City of New London

Constitutional Law, Property Law & Real Estate
Defendant-City's proposed disposition of plaintiff's property qualifies as a "public use" within the meaning of the Takings Clause of the Fifth...

Gonzalez v. Crosby

Criminal Law & Procedure, Habeas Corpus
In habeas proceedings, a motion for relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) is not to be treated as a successive habeas petition if it does...

Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Serv.

Civil Procedure, Class Actions
When at least one named plaintiff in a diversity action satisfies section 1332(a)'s amount-in-controversy requirement, and the other elements of...

Orff v. US

Contracts, Water Law
Section 390uu of the Reclamation Reform Act does not waive the United States' sovereign immunity from breach of contract suits.