Ricci v. Destefano
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause allows a government employer to reject the results of a civil service examination and election process, as required by the city…
Cases
Montana Wildlife Federation v. Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether Montana complied with all State environmental laws and policies when it approved new well drilling permit applications? Plaintiff: Montana Wildlife Federation; National Wildlife Federation Defendant: Montana…
Gonzalez v. Arizona
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether Arizona may require proof positive of U.S. citizenship in order to vote in Arizona elections? Plaintiff: Maria Gonzalez, Jesus Gonzalez, Bernie Abeytia, Luciano Valencia, Debbie Lopez,…
Amigos Bravos v. BLM, Wildearth Guardians v. BLM
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether, and, if so to what extent, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must consider, analyze, and/or mitigate the global warming impacts of so-called greenhouse gases when…
Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether Congress may create race-based preferences for Native Hawaiians by legislative fiat, proclaiming them a political group with which the United States has a special and unique…
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents of the University of Colorado
Historical Case
Case Summary Issues: Whether the Colorado General Assembly preempted the authority of the Regents of the University of Colorado to regulate concealed handguns by passing the CCW Act and whether…
Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether Congress may demand, based on conditions that existed more than forty years ago, that a sovereign State continue to yield to the Attorney General of the…
Marston v. U.S. Forest Service
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the federal government may seize property and/or take governmental action that significantly damages property or impairs its use? Plaintiff: Arron Marston and Judy Marston Defendant: United…
Hapner v. Tidwell
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the Forest Service should be allowed to conduct timber-thinning operations consistent with good forestry management practices to prevent future forest fires? Plaintiff: Sharon J. Hapner; Alliance…
Ysura v. Pocatello Political Association
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the First Amendment freedom of speech protects a union’s right to collect its dues in the most expeditious manner possible? Plaintiff: Ben Ysursa, Idaho Secretary of…
Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co.
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether Indian tribal courts have subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate civil tort claims as an “other means” of regulating the conduct of a non-member bank owning fee-land…
District of Columbia v. Heller
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, or whether the right protected by the Second Amendment is a collective right held…
Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the powers delegated to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act violate the fundamental constitutional doctrine of separation of powers? Plaintiff: Free…
Rothe Development Corporation v. U.S. Department of Defense
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the United States may engage in racially discriminatory contracting in its procurement and contracting practices? Plaintiff: Rothe Development Corporation Defendant: U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department…
Crawford v. Marion County Election Board and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether a state statute that requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID prior to casting a vote in person violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to…
Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the use of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 to bar an otherwise legal use of a national forest violates the Establishment…
Wyoming v. U.S. Department of Agriculture
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the Clinton Roadless Rule is an illegal attempt to circumvent the Wilderness Act of 1964 under which only Congress may designate federal land as wilderness? Plaintiff:…
Lozano v. Hazleton
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether an ordinance adopted by the City of Hazleton is unconstitutional because it invades an area preempted by the federal government—immigration? Plaintiff: Pedro Lozano; Humberto Hernandez; Rosa…
National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, and EPA v. Defenders of Wildlife
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the Environmental Protection Agency may transfer to the State of Arizona authority to issue Clean Water Act permits without imposing conditions to ensure protection of federally…
Large v. Fremont County, Wyoming
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) requires the creation of voting districts for the election of county commissioners so as to ensure that members of certain…
State of Washington v. Washington Education Association
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether a union may use money derived from mandatory fees paid by a nonunion member for political purposes without the consent of the nonunion member? Plaintiff: State…
Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, and State of Alaska v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the Corps and the EPA reasonably concluded that the Section 404 program should govern material placed in waters of the United States where the material has…
Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Kimbell
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether the Forest Service should be allowed to conduct timber thinning operations consistent with good forestry management practices? Plaintiff: The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and The…
Parents Involved In Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1
Historical Case
Case Summary Issue: Whether a public school district may assign students to high school on the basis of their race for the alleged purpose of achieving diversity? Plaintiff: Parents Involved…