U.S. Supreme Court Case Commentaries

Trump v. AFGE (2025): The Supreme Court Creates a Presumptive Deference to Executive-Branch Reorganization Orders at the Stay Stage

Date: Jul 10, 2025

Trump v. American Federation of Government Employees, 606 U.S. ___ (2025): Presumptive Deference to Executive Reorganization Orders When Considering Emergency Stays 1. Introduction The Supreme...

“Stay-Power Supremacy”: The Supreme Court Holds that a Stay of an Injunction Extinguishes All Contempt-Based Remedies – Commentary on DHS v. D.V.D., 606 U.S. ___ (2025)

Date: Jul 5, 2025

“Stay-Power Supremacy”: The Supreme Court Holds that a Stay of an Injunction Extinguishes All Contempt-Based Remedies Commentary on Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., 606 U.S. ___ (2025)...

“Sequential-Instruction Due-Process Clause Conflicts”: Commentary on Black v. Tennessee (606 U.S. ___-2025)

Date: Jul 3, 2025

“Sequential-Instruction Due-Process Clause Conflicts” Comprehensive Commentary on Black v. Tennessee, 606 U.S. ___ (2025) Introduction On 30 June 2025 the Supreme Court of the United States denied...

“Disruption” Cannot Trump Viewpoint Neutrality: A Commentary on Justice Thomas’s Statement in MacRae v. Mattos (2025)

Date: Jul 3, 2025

“Disruption” Cannot Trump Viewpoint Neutrality: A Commentary on Justice Thomas’s Statement in MacRae v. Mattos (606 U.S. ___ (2025)) 1. Introduction In MacRae v. Mattos, the Supreme Court declined to...

Constitutional Supremacy and the Court’s Mandatory Jurisdiction: A Commentary on Louisiana v. Callais (2025)

Date: Jun 30, 2025

Constitutional Supremacy and the Court’s Mandatory Jurisdiction: A Commentary on Louisiana v. Callais (606 U.S. ___ (2025)) 1. Introduction Louisiana v. Callais is the latest chapter in the...

“Qualitative Sufficiency” as an Intelligible Principle: A Detailed Commentary on FCC v. Consumers’ Research (2025)

Date: Jun 30, 2025

“Qualitative Sufficiency” as an Intelligible Principle: A Comprehensive Commentary on FCC v. Consumers’ Research, 606 U.S. ___ (2025) 1. Introduction For nearly three decades the Federal...

From “Strict” to “Intermediate”: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton and the New Standard for Online Age-Verification Laws

Date: Jun 30, 2025

From “Strict” to “Intermediate”: Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton and the New Standard for Online Age-Verification Laws 1. Introduction In Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, No. 23-1122...

“Convene-and-Transfer” Doctrine: Kennedy v. Braidwood Management Clarifies Inferior-Officer Status and Two-Step Vesting Under the Appointments Clause

Date: Jun 30, 2025

“Convene-and-Transfer” Doctrine: Kennedy v. Braidwood Management Clarifies Inferior-Officer Status and Two-Step Vesting Under the Appointments Clause 1. Introduction Kennedy v. Braidwood Management,...

Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025): The New Constitutional Right to Religious Opt-Outs from Public-School Instruction

Date: Jun 30, 2025

Mahmoud v. Taylor: The U.S. Supreme Court Recognizes a Parental Free-Exercise Right to Opt Children Out of Public-School Lessons 1. Introduction Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. ___ (2025), is the Supreme...

Trump v. CASA, Inc.: The Demise of the “Universal Injunction” and the Re-drawn Limits of Federal Equitable Power

Date: Jun 30, 2025

Trump v. CASA, Inc. The Supreme Court Abolishes the Universal Injunction 1. Introduction In Trump v. CASA, Inc., 606 U.S. ___ (2025), the U.S. Supreme Court issued what is likely to become the...

“Removing One Barrier Is Redress Enough” – Gutierrez v. Saenz and the Supreme Court’s Refined Doctrine of Standing in Post-Conviction DNA-Testing Litigation

Date: Jun 30, 2025

“Removing One Barrier Is Redress Enough” – Gutierrez v. Saenz and the Supreme Court’s Refined Doctrine of Standing in Post-Conviction DNA-Testing Litigation I. Introduction On 26 June 2025 the U.S....

“No Sentence Means No Bar” – Hewitt v. United States and the Present-Perfect Test for First-Step-Act Retroactivity

Date: Jun 30, 2025

“No Sentence Means No Bar” – Hewitt v. United States (2025) and the Present-Perfect Test for Retroactivity under §403(b) of the First Step Act 1. Introduction In Hewitt v. United States, 606 U.S. ___...

Medina v. Planned Parenthood: A Landmark Restriction on Private §1983 Actions Under Spending-Clause Statutes

Date: Jun 30, 2025

Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (2025): The Supreme Court Narrows §1983 Enforcement of Spending-Clause Statutes Introduction On 26 June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Medina v....

Riley v. Bondi: Clarifying “Final Orders of Removal” and Re-branding the §1252(b)(1) Deadline as a Non-Jurisdictional Claims-Processing Rule

Date: Jun 30, 2025

Riley v. Bondi: Clarifying “Final Orders of Removal” and Re-branding the §1252(b)(1) Deadline as a Non-Jurisdictional Claims-Processing Rule 1. Introduction In Riley v. Bondi, 606 U.S. ____ (2025),...

“From Notice to Nowhere:” DHS v. D.V.D. and the Supreme Court’s Expansion of Executive Latitude in Third-Country Removals

Date: Jun 30, 2025

“From Notice to Nowhere:” DHS v. D.V.D. and the Supreme Court’s Expansion of Executive Latitude in Third-Country Removals Introduction In Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., 606 U.S. ___...

Re-Drawing the Boundaries of Equitable Relief: DHS v. D.V.D. and the Supreme Court’s Expanded Deference to Executive Removal Authority

Date: Jun 24, 2025

Re-Drawing the Boundaries of Equitable Relief: Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D. (606 U.S. ___, 2025) Introduction On 23 June 2025 the U.S. Supreme Court, acting on an emergency application,...

“Commonsense Redressability” — Diamond Alternative Energy v. EPA and the Expansion of Article III Standing

Date: Jun 23, 2025

“Commonsense Redressability” — Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. EPA and the Expansion of Article III Standing 1. Introduction Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. Environmental Protection Agency, 606...

“No Retribution on Revocation” – The Supervised-Release Principle in Esteras v. United States (2025)

Date: Jun 23, 2025

“No Retribution on Revocation” – The New Supervised-Release Principle in Esteras v. United States (606 U.S.___ 2025) I. Introduction On 20 June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Esteras v. United...

“Any Person Adversely Affected” Means What It Says: FDA v. R. J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and the Expansion of Statutory Standing Under the Tobacco Control Act

Date: Jun 23, 2025

“Any Person Adversely Affected” Means What It Says: FDA v. R. J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (2025) and the Expansion of Statutory Standing Under the Tobacco Control Act 1. Introduction The United States...

Beyond “Minimum Contacts” – The U.S. Supreme Court Widens the Fifth-Amendment Horizon for Federal Personal-Jurisdiction in Anti-Terrorism Litigation

Date: Jun 23, 2025

Beyond “Minimum Contacts” – The Fifth Amendment, Foreign Affairs, and the New Constitutional Standard for Federal Personal-Jurisdiction 1. Introduction In Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization,...