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Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. v. Regal-Beloit Corp. - 08-1553 (2010) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2009 UNICODE VALUE="8195">KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA LTD. V. REGAL-BELOIT CORP. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA LTD. etal. v . REGAL-BELOIT CORP. etal. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit No. 081553.Argued March 24, 2010Decided June 21, 2010* Respondents (cargo owners) delivered to petitioners in No. 081553 (K Line) goods for shipping from China to inland United States destinations. K Line issued them four through bills of lading, i.e., bills of lading covering both the ocean and inland portions of transport in a single document. As relevant here, the bills contain a Himalaya Clause, which extends the bills defenses and liability limitations to subcontractors; permit K Line to subcontract to complete the journey; provide that the entire journey is governed by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), which regulates bills of lading...
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J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2010 J. MCINTYRE MACHINERY, LTD. V. NICASTRO SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES J. McINTYRE MACHINERY, LTD. v . NICASTRO,individually and as administrator ofthe ESTATE OF NICASTRO certiorari to the supreme court of new jersey No. 091343.Argued January 11, 2011Decided June 27, 2011 Respondent Nicastro injured his hand while using a metal-shearing machine that petitioner J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. (J. McIntyre), manufactured in England, where the company is incorporated and operates. Nicastro filed this products-liability suit in a state court in New Jersey, where the accident occurred, but J. McIntyre sought to dismiss the suit for want of personal jurisdiction. Nicastros jurisdictional claim was based on three primary facts:A U. S. distributor agreed to sell J. McIntyres machines in this country; J. McIntyre officials attended trade shows in several States, albeit not in New Jersey; and no more than four J. McIn...
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Kloeckner v. Solis NOTE:Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U.S. 321. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus KLOECKNER v. SOLIS, SECRETARY OF LABOR certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eighth circuit No. 11184.Argued October 2, 2012Decided December 10, 2012 The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) permits a federal employee subjected to a particularly serious personnel action such as a discharge or demotion to appeal her agencys decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or Board). Such an appeal may allege that the agency had insufficient cause for taking the action under the CSRA itself; but the appeal may also or instead charge th...
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Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. - 06-179 (2008) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2007 RIEGEL V. MEDTRONIC, INC. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES RIEGEL, individually and as administrator ofESTATE OF RIEGEL v . MEDTRONIC, INC. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the second circuit No. 06179.Argued December 4, 2007Decided February 20, 2008 The Medical Device Amendments of 1976 (MDA) created a scheme of federal safety oversight for medical devices while sweeping back state oversight schemes. The statute provides that a State shall not establish or continue in effect with respect to a device intended for human use any requirement (1) which is different from, or in addition to, any requirement applicable under [federal law] to the device, and (2) which relates to the safety or effectiveness of the device or to any other matter included in a requirement applicable to the device under relevant federal law. 21 U. S.C. 360k(a). The MDA calls for federal oversight of medical devic...
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McDonald v. Chicago - 08-1521 (2010) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2009 MCDONALD V. CHICAGO SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES McDONALD etal. v . CITY OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, etal. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the seventh circuit No. 081521.Argued March 2, 2010Decided June 28, 2010 Two years ago, in District of Columbia v. Heller , 554 U. S. ___, this Court held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense and struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home. Chicago (hereinafter City) and the village of Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, have laws effectively banning handgun possession by almost all private citizens. After Heller , petitioners filed this federal suit against the City, which was consolidated with two related actions, alleging that the Citys handgun ban has left them vulnerable to criminals. They sought a declaration that the ban and several related Ci...
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Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC, et al. v. Bennett, et al; McComish, et al. v. Bennett, et al. SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2010 ARIZONA FREE ENTERPRISE CLUB'S FREEDOMCLUB PAC V. BENNETT SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES ARIZONA FREE ENTERPRISE CLUBS FREEDOM CLUB PAC etal. v . BENNETT, SECRETARY OFSTATE OF ARIZONA, etal. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit No. 10238.Argued March 28, 2011Decided June 27, 2011 The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Act created a public financing system to fund the primary and general election campaigns of candidates for state office. Candidates who opt to participate, and who accept certain campaign restrictions and obligations, are granted an initial outlay of public funds to conduct their campaign. They are also granted additional matching funds if a privately financed candidates expenditures, combined with the expenditures of independent groups made in support of the privately financed candidate o...
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LORD COLLINS The right to free elections 1. As a result of the experience of the pre-war dictatorships, the right to free elections was emphasised during and immediately following the Second World War as an essential element of personal freedom and equality before the law. As Professor Hersch (later Sir Hersch) Lauterpacht put it in 1945: " the right of self-government “ which in developed society means government by persons freely chosen by and accountable to the electors “ is in itself an expression and a condition of freedom. No individual is free if he is governed against his will, that is, if the persons who exercise authority are not chosen by and accountable to the community at large." (Lauterpacht, An International Bill of the Rights of Man (1945), 135) 2. Five years later Lauterpacht said: "Without an effective guarantee of these political rights of freedom, personal freedom and equality before the law must be, at best, precarious; at worst they may be meaningle...
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Skilling v. United States - 08-1394 (2010) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2009 SKILLING V. UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES SKILLING v . UNITED STATES certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the fifth circuit No. 081394.Argued March 1, 2010Decided June 24, 2010 Founded in 1985, Enron Corporation grew from its headquarters in Houston, Texas, into the seventh highest-revenue-grossing company in America. Petitioner Jeffrey Skilling, a longtime Enron officer, was Enrons chief executive officer from February until August 2001, when he resigned. Less than four months later, Enron crashed into bankruptcy, and its stock plummeted in value. After an investigation uncovered an elaborate conspiracy to prop up Enrons stock prices by overstating the companys financial well-being, the Government prosecuted dozens of Enron employees who participated in the scheme. In time, the Government worked its way up the chain of command, indicting Skilling and two other top Enron...
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Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Bd. - 08-861 (2010) SYLLABUS OCTOBER TERM, 2009 FREE ENTERPRISE FUND V. PUBLIC COMPANYACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BD. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FREE ENTERPRISE FUND etal. v . PUBLIC COMPANY ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD etal. certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit No. 08861.Argued December 7, 2009Decided June 28, 2010 Respondent, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, was created as part of a series of accounting reforms in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Board is composed of five members appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was modeled on private self-regulatory organizations in the securities industrysuch as the New York Stock Exchangethat investigate and discipline their own members subject to Commission oversight. Unlike these organizations, the Board is a Government-created entity with expansive powers to govern an entire industry. Eve...
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LORD MANCE (WITH WHOM LORD KERR AGREES) Introduction 1. The liability of employers for deaths caused by mesothelioma has pre-occupied courts and legislators over recent years. The present appeals concern claims to pass the burden of this liability on to insurers, made either by employers or in the case of insolvent employers by the personal representatives of former employees using the mechanism of the Third Party (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930. 2. The appeals concern employers' liability insurance. This is in contrast with Bolton MBC v Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd [2006] EWCA Civ 50, [2006] 1 WLR 1492 where public liability insurance was in issue. Employers' liability focuses necessarily upon the relevant employment relationships and activities. Public liability relates to any of the insured's relationships and to activities affecting the world at large. Another feature of employers' liability is that, under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 (the "ELCIA"),...
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