This fall, the Supreme Court will grapple with the issue of whether federal civil rights laws allow compensatory damages for emotional distress in a case that may clarify what legal responsibility federally-funded health care providers have to provide accommodations to patients with disabilities. The lawsuit was brought by a deaf-blind woman denied an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter by a health care provider. “It really is important that the deaf community has access to services that they’re entitled to under the law, and that’s an important part of this case,” the woman’s attorney, New York-based Andrew Rozynski, told The Epoch … Continue reading Supreme Court to consider emotional distress damages for disabled patients

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to a Maine law that bans families from a student aid program if they choose to send their children to religious schools. Parents in the Pine Tree State argue in their petition to the court that Maine’s prohibition against using taxpayer funds on sectarian schools violates the U.S. Constitution. They say that the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue held that a state may not exclude families and schools from participating in a student-aid program because of a school’s religious status. But, they say, the court did not … Continue reading Supreme Court votes to hear religious school tuition case from Maine

A unanimous Supreme Court held that the courts must hear a challenge to a San Francisco ordinance forcing landowners to provide lifetime leases to tenants, overturning a ruling by the often-reversed U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The case, Pakdel v. City and County of San Francisco, court file 20-1212, was disposed of without oral arguments on June 28 in an unsigned opinion. A businessman had been suing San Francisco over a local rule his lawyers say punishes him for trying to convert his residential rental property into a condominium. The man and his wife had purchased the property in 2009 as an investment, intending … Continue reading Supreme Court reverses 9th Circuit, orders courts to hear landlord rights case from San Francisco

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that for-profit Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) are American Indian tribes, and as such are entitled to seek pandemic-related financial relief set aside for tribes in last year’s CARES Act. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the court’s opinion in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, court file 20-543, and the related case, Alaska Native Village Corporation Association Inc. v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, court file 20-544, which was released June 25. Janet Yellen is the secretary of the Department of the Treasury. ANCs are big business in Alaska, with a combined net revenue of $9.1 billion in … Continue reading Supreme Court rules Alaska Native Corporations eligible for CARES Act payments

In a 5–4 ruling on June 25, the Supreme Court sided with credit reporting company TransUnion, removing most of the more than 8,000 plaintiffs from a consumer class-action lawsuit against the firm, which had categorized those individuals as potential terrorists. The ruling is a defeat for the Biden administration, which had argued all 8,185 individuals in the class sustained an “informational injury” at the hands of TransUnion and therefore had standing to sue. The high court decided that 6,332 of the class members lacked standing. The opinion in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, court file 20-297, was written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and backed by … Continue reading Supreme Court reduces scope of class action against credit firm that falsely implicated people as on terrorist watch list

A California regulation allowing labor organizers to disrupt businesses for hours every day for one-third of the year to recruit new members is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 vote along ideological lines. “Today’s ruling is a huge victory for property rights,” Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) senior attorney Joshua Thompson said in a statement. The decision “affirms that one of the most fundamental aspects of property is the right to decide who can and can’t access your property.” PLF is a national public interest law firm based in Sacramento, California, that represented farmers challenging the law. The ruling is likely to have … Continue reading Supreme Court strengthens property rights in case involving labor organizing on farms

A high school cheerleader’s First Amendment rights were violated when Pennsylvania school officials disciplined her for a profanity-laced rant on social media, a near-unanimous Supreme Court ruled. The 8–1 ruling on June 23 is a defeat for the Biden administration, which had urged the court to let school districts suppress free speech by students on social media if they deem it potentially disruptive to school operations. The court opinion in the case, Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., court file 20-255, was written by Justice Stephen Breyer. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion. Long before the internet became part of Americans’ daily lives, … Continue reading Supreme Court rules in favor of cheerleader who swore online, in free-speech decision

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) regulations that restrict benefits that may be given to student-athletes violate federal antitrust law. The June 21 ruling, which opens the door for student-athletes to receive greater compensation, could reshape college sports throughout the country. The case is actually two cases that were heard together: NCAA v. Alston, court file 20-512, and American Athletic Conference (AAC) v. Alston, court file 20-520. Former football player Shawne Alston, one of a group of football and basketball athletes challenging the NCAA, was a running back for the West Virginia University Mountaineers from 2009 to 2012. The Biden … Continue reading Supreme Court rules NCAA went too far in cracking down on student-athlete pay

White Illinois farmers are challenging part of the recent COVID-19 stimulus law in court because it allocates federal benefits based on skin color. The civil rights suit, Kent v. Vilsack, was filed in federal court June 7 by Sacramento, California-based Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a national public-interest law firm. Tom Vilsack is being sued in his official capacity as U.S. secretary of agriculture. The firm has filed two other such lawsuits against Vilsack and expects to file more. One of the plaintiffs, Ryan Kent of Centralia, Illinois, is a white man who grows soybeans, wheat, and corn on a 5,000-acre farm started by his father. … Continue reading White Illinois farmers sue over race-based farm loan relief program

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a Roman Catholic charity in Pennsylvania may refuse on religious-freedom grounds to place children with same-sex couples. The case is Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, court file 19-123. Although the June 17 decision was 9–0, the Supreme Court didn’t speak with one voice. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion of the court, which Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined. Justices Barrett, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch each filed a separate opinion concurring in the judgment. The Trump administration backed the charity, Catholic Social Services (CSS), … Continue reading Supreme Court: Catholic charity may deny foster children to same-sex couples

By a vote of 7–2, the Supreme Court has upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—commonly known as Obamacare—for the third time, ignoring the question of its constitutionality by ruling that those challenging it lacked the required legal standing to do so. In a tweet, President Joe Biden said the decision was “a big win for the American people.” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a medical doctor who has worked to repeal the law, lamented the ruling. “The failed Obamacare system will stagger on as a result of this decision,” he said in a statement. “Every American’s health care has been harmed … Continue reading Supreme Court tosses Obamacare challenge by 18 states on grounds of legal standing

The Biden-Harris administration is promising to press on with a blatantly unconstitutional $4 billion farm relief program that deliberately excludes white people even after a federal judge ruled it was racially discriminatory and temporarily blocked it. Democrats view the explicitly racist government program as a down payment on the slavery reparations package they want to force on Americans a century and a half after Abraham Lincoln’s Republicans took Democrats’ slaves away from them. Twelve plaintiffs in nine states sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a case called Faust v. Vilsack to enjoin officials from implementing a loan-forgiveness program for farmers … Continue reading Biden’s racist farm reparations: The blatantly unconstitutional Pigford 2.0 excludes white farmers