Decisions from federal courts — grouped by circuit and court level.
The Supreme Court held that Colorado's ban on conversion therapy, as applied to licensed talk therapists, constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The Court reversed the lower courts, ruling that the state law impermissibly prescribes what views counselors may express to clients rather than merely regulating professional conduct.
The Supreme Court held that an internet service provider is not contributorily liable for user copyright infringement merely because it knows specific subscribers are infringing. Liability requires proof that the provider affirmatively induced the infringement or provided a service specifically tailored to it.
The Supreme Court held that the Sentencing Reform Act does not authorize automatically extending a defendant's supervised release term due to abscondment. Consequently, a district court lacks authority to treat a new offense committed after a supervised release term has expired as a violation of that term.
The Supreme Court reversed the Second Circuit, holding that a police officer was entitled to qualified immunity for using a rear wristlock to remove a passive protester. The Court ruled that existing precedent did not clearly establish that this specific conduct, performed after repeated warnings, violated the Fourth Amendment.
The Supreme Court held that a §1983 plaintiff seeking purely prospective injunctive relief is not barred by Heck v. Humphrey, even if they have a prior conviction for violating the challenged law. The Court reasoned that Heck only precludes claims where a favorable judgment would necessarily imply the invalidity of the conviction for the purpose of release or damages, not challenges to future enforcement.
The Supreme Court held that the Immigration and Nationality Act mandates substantial-evidence review for the Board of Immigration Appeals' determinations regarding whether undisputed facts constitute persecution. The Court affirmed the First Circuit's removal order, ruling that the record did not compel a finding of persecution under this deferential standard.
The Supreme Court vacated a Ninth Circuit stay of a permanent injunction blocking California school policies that prohibit notifying parents of their children's gender transitioning. The Court held that the policies likely violate parents' First Amendment Free Exercise rights and Fourteenth Amendment Due Process rights to direct their children's upbringing.
The Supreme Court held that a pretrial order denying Yearsley protection is not immediately appealable because the doctrine provides a merits defense rather than an immunity from suit. Consequently, the denial fails the third prong of the collateral-order doctrine, as the issue remains effectively reviewable after a final judgment.
The Supreme Court held that a trial court may prohibit a testifying defendant from discussing his own testimony with counsel during an overnight recess without violating the Sixth Amendment. The Court clarified that while defendants retain rights to consult on tactics and sentencing, they have no constitutional entitlement to confer about ongoing testimony itself.
The Supreme Court held that the Federal Tort Claims Act's postal exception bars state-law tort claims arising from the intentional nondelivery of mail. The Court concluded that the statutory terms 'loss' and 'miscarriage' encompass failures to deliver caused by intentional misconduct, not just negligence.
