Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-29-1989
Brendale v. Confederated Tribes - 492 U.S. 408 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Brendale v. Confederated Tribes, 492 U.S. 408 (1989) Brendale v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of Yakima Indian Nation No. 87-1622 Argued January 10, 1989 Decided June 29, 1989 * 492 U.S. 408 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT Syllabus The treaty between the United States and the Yakima Indian Nation (Yakima Nation or Tribe) provided that the Tribe would retain its reservation for its "exclusive use and benefit," and that "no white man [shall] be permitted to reside upon the said reservation without [the Tribe's] permission." Much of the reservation is located in Yakima County, Washington. Roughly 80 of the reservation land is held in trust by the United States for the Tribe or its individual members, and the remaining 20 is owned in fee by Indian or non-Indian owners. Most of the fee land is found in three towns, and the rest is scattered throughout the reservation i...
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Decided on : May-15-1989
United States v. Halper - 490 U.S. 435 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435 (1989) United States v. Halper No. 87-1383 Argued January 17, 1989 Decided May 15, 1989 490 U.S. 435 APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Syllabus After respondent, the manager of a company which provided medical services for patients eligible for federal Medicare benefits, was convicted, inter alia, of submitting 65 false claims for Government reimbursement in violation of the federal criminal false-claims statute, he was sentenced to prison and fined $5,000. Based solely on facts established by his criminal conviction, the District Court then granted the Government summary judgment in its suit against him under the federal civil False Claims Act (Act). Under the strict terms of that Act's remedial provision, as it then existed, respondent would have been liable for a civil penalty of $2,000 on each of the 65 false claims, a...
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Decided on : Jul-03-1989
Webster v. Reproductive Health Svcs. - 492 U.S. 490 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Webster v. Reproductive Health Svcs., 492 U.S. 490 (1989) Webster v. Reproductive Health Services No. 88-605 Argued April 26, 1989 Decided July 3, 1989 492 U.S. 490 APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT Syllabus Appellees, state-employed health professionals and private nonprofit corporations providing abortion services, brought suit in the District Court for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging the constitutionality of a Missouri statute regulating the performance of abortions. The statute, inter alia: (1) sets forth "findings" in its preamble that "[t]he life of each human being begins at conception," and that "unborn children have protectable interests in life, health, and wellbeing," 1.205.1(1), (2), and requires that all state laws be interpreted to provide unborn children with the same rights enjoyed by other persons, subject to the Federal Constit...
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Decided on : Jun-05-1989
Commun. for Non-Violence v. Reid - 490 U.S. 730 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Commun. for Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989) Commun. for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid No. 88-293 Argued March 29, 1989 Decided June 5, 1989 490 U.S. 730 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Syllabus In the fall of 1985, petitioners -- the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), a Washington, D.C. organization dedicated to eliminating homelessness, and one of its trustees -- entered into an oral agreement with respondent Reid, a sculptor, to produce a statue dramatizing the plight of the homeless for display at a 1985 Christmas pageant in Washington. While Reid worked on the statue in his Baltimore, Md. studio, CCNV members visited him on a number of occasions to check on his progress and to coordinate CCNV's construction of the sculpture's base in accordance with the parties' agreement. Reid accepted most of CCNV's suggestions and directio...
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Decided on : Jan-23-1989
Argentine Rep. v. Amerada Hess - 488 U.S. 428 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Argentine Rep. v. Amerada Hess, 488 U.S. 428 (1989) Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp. No. 87-1372 Argued December 6, 1988 Decided January 23, 1989 488 U.S. 428 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT Syllabus A crude oil tanker owned by respondent United Carriers, Inc., a Liberian corporation, and chartered to respondent Amerada Hess Corp., also a Liberian corporation, was severely damaged when it was attacked in international waters by Argentine military aircraft during the war between Great Britain and petitioner Argentine Republic over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) off the Argentine coast. Respondents brought separate actions against petitioner in Federal District Court for the damage they sustained in the attack. They invoked the District Court's jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), which confers original jurisdiction on district courts o...
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Decided on : Mar-28-1989
Texas St. Teach. Ass'n v. Garland ISD - 489 U.S. 782 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Texas St. Teach. Ass'n v. Garland ISD, 489 U.S. 782 (1989) Texas State Teachers Association v. Garland Independent School District No. 87-1759 Argued March 1, 1989 Decided March 28, 1989 489 U.S. 782 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Syllabus Petitioners, state and local teachers' associations and several of their members and employees, brought suit in the District Court under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that respondent school district's policy of prohibiting communications by or with teachers during the schoolday concerning employee organizations violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights in various particular respects. The District Court granted the school district summary judgment on most of petitioners' claims. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, granting petitioners summary judgment on their claims that the school district...
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Decided on : Jun-23-1989
Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg - 492 U.S. 33 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg, 492 U.S. 33 (1989) Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg No. 87-1716 Argued January 9, 1989 Decided June 23, 1989 492 U.S. 33 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Syllabus Respondent, the bankruptcy trustee for a corporation undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization, filed suit in the District Court against petitioners, seeking to avoid allegedly fraudulent monetary transfers to them by the bankrupt corporation's predecessor and to recover damages, costs, expenses, and interest. The court referred the proceedings to the Bankruptcy Court. Shortly after the Colombian Government nationalized petitioner Granfinanciera, S. A., petitioners requested a jury trial. The Bankruptcy Judge denied the request, deeming a suit to recover a fraudulent transfer a "core action" which, under his understanding of English common law, "was a nonjury issue." The Di...
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Decided on : Jun-22-1989
Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist. - 491 U.S. 701 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Jett v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 491 U.S. 701 (1989) Jett v. Dallas Independent School District No. 87-2084 Argued March 28, 1989 Decided June 22, 1989 491 U.S. 701 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Syllabus Petitioner Jett, a white male, was employed by respondent Dallas Independent School District (DISD) as a teacher, athletic director, and head football coach at a predominantly black high school. After repeated clashes with the school's Principal Todd, a black man, over school policies and Jett's handling of the school's football program, Todd recommended that Jett be relieved of his duties as athletic director and coach. The DISD's Superintendent Wright affirmed Todd's recommendation and reassigned Jett to a teaching position in another school, where he had no coaching duties. Alleging, inter alia, that Todd's recommendation was racially motivated, and that ...
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Decided on : Feb-22-1989
DeShaney v. Winnebago Cty. DSS - 489 U.S. 189 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court DeShaney v. Winnebago Cty. DSS, 489 U.S. 189 (1989) DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services No. 87-154 Argued November 2, 1988 Decided February 22, 1989 489 U.S. 189 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT Syllabus Petitioner is a child who was subjected to a series of beatings by his father, with whom he lived. Respondents, a county department of social services and several of its social workers, received complaints that petitioner was being abused by his father, and took various steps to protect him; they did not, however, act to remove petitioner from his father's custody. Petitioner's father finally beat him so severely that he suffered permanent brain damage, and was rendered profoundly retarded. Petitioner and his mother sued respondents under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that respondents had deprived petitioner of his liberty interest in bodily int...
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Decided on : May-22-1989
Finley v. United States - 490 U.S. 545 (1989) U.S. Supreme Court Finley v. United States, 490 U.S. 545 (1989) Finley v. United States No. 87-1973 Argued February 28, 1989 Decided May 22, 1989 490 U.S. 545 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURTOF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT Syllabus Petitioner's decedents were killed when their plane struck electric power lines on its approach to a city-run airfield in San Diego. She filed the present action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 1346(b), claiming that the Federal Aviation Administration had been negligent in its operation and maintenance of runway lights and in its performance of air traffic control functions. Petitioner subsequently moved to amend her complaint to add state tort law claims against both the city and the utility company that maintained the power lines. The District Court granted the motion and asserted "pendent" jurisdiction under Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U. S. 71...
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