Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court strikes down ban on sports betting – what about esports?

By / May 28, 2018

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which has effectively banned sports betting for the last 25 years. PASPA did not ban sports betting directly. Instead, it prohibited the 49 states with bans or limitations from modifying or repealing them. This distinction was PASPA’s downfall. …

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Sheriff not liable for terminating deputies that didn’t donate to reelection. – N.C. Supreme Court.

By / February 1, 2016

Lloyd v. Bailey. (Also McClaughlin v. Bailey and Young v. Bailey). During his campaign for Sheriff of Mecklenburg County, Bailey solicited campaign donations from his deputies. He was reelected and shortly thereafter terminated several deputies who had refused to contribute to the reelection campaign. The deputies sued, claiming wrongful termination under N.C.G.S. § 153A-99, and of …

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Argument Today: Heffernan v. City of Paterson – SCOTUS

By / January 19, 2016

Heffernan v. City of Paterson. Question Presented: Whether the First Amendment bars the government from demoting a public employee based on a supervisor’s perception that the employee supports a political candidate. That’s right, the perception of support. If Heffernan were actually supporting a political opponent of his boss, he’d have better recourse under the First Amendment. Because he …

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DirecTV v. Imburgia – Opinion Released – SCOTUS

By / December 15, 2015

Opinion: DIRECTV v. Imburgia (pdf). Rather than rehash the opinion, here are links to some coverage: U.S. top court rules for DirecTV in arbitration case – Reuters. SCOTUS upholds contract ban on mass arbitration in second ADR case involving California law – ABA Journal. Opinion analysis: Justices rebuke California courts (again) for refusal to enforce arbitration agreement – …

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High court declines to hear cell-site data case – SCOTUS

By / November 11, 2015

I have previously written about the Fourth Circuit’s decision in US v. Graham, in which the divided court concluded that extended cell-site data could not be admitted without a warrant – and splitting from other circuits. I’ve also previously written about State v. Perry, in which the N.C. Court of Appeals concluded no warrant was …

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Cases to Watch: October Term

By / October 1, 2015

Spokeo v. Robins, No. 13-1339 [Argument: November 2, 2015] Issue: Whether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete harm, and who therefore could not otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of a federal court, by authorizing a private right of action based on a bare violation of a federal statute. The issue …

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