Legal Blotterca

CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co., Ltd.

March 30, 2020

Holding: The plain language of the safe-berth clause in the parties’ subcharter agreement—requiring the petitioners to designate a safe berth for a vessel to load and discharge cargo—establishes a warranty…

Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African American-Owned Media

March 23, 2020

Holding: A plaintiff who sues for racial discrimination in contracting under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 bears the burden of showing that race was a but-for cause of the plaintiff’s injury, and that burden…

Allen v. Cooper

March 23, 2020

Holding: Congress lacked authority to abrogate the states’ sovereign immunity from copyright infringement suits in the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act of 1990.

Kansas v. Garcia

March 3, 2020

Holding: The Kansas statutes under which respondents, three unauthorized aliens, were convicted—for fraudulently using another person’s Social Security number on state and federal tax-withholding forms submitted to their employers—are not…

Rodriguez v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

February 25, 2020

Holding: The rule of In re Bob Richards Chrysler-Plymouth Corp., which specifies how federal tax refund proceeds should be allocated among members of an affiliated group of corporations that file a…

Hernandez v. Mesa

February 25, 2020

Holding: The holding in Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents does not extend to claims based on a cross-border shooting.

CIC Services, LLC v. Internal Revenue Service

January 20, 2020

Holding: A suit to enjoin IRS Notice 2016–66 does not trigger the Anti-Injunction Act even though a violation of the notice may result in a tax penalty. Judgment: Reversed and remanded,…

Ritzen Group Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC

January 14, 2020

Holding: A bankruptcy court’s order unreservedly denying relief from the automatic stay constitutes a final, immediately appealable order under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a).

Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander

January 14, 2020

Holding: This case, about whether plaintiffs can state a claim against retirement-plan fiduciaries for breach of duty of prudence by alleging that the costs of undisclosed fraud grow over time,…

Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda

January 1, 2020

Holding: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.