Leading Cases

These student-written pieces focus on one important case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court during the previous Term and form the “Leading Cases” section of the November Supreme Court issue. Comments are ten pages long and written during the summer between students’ second and third years.

First Amendment

FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate

Vol. 136 No. 1 Candidates for federal office may loan an unlimited amount of their own money to their campaign committees. However, under section 304 of the Bipartisan...
U.S. Territories

United States v. Vaello Madero

Vol. 136 No. 1 Equal protection under the Fifth Amendment guarantees that the federal government will not discriminate against individuals without a rational basis. Not in Puerto Rico....
Federal Indian Law

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas

Vol. 136 No. 1 It is hornbook law that “standard principles of statutory interpretation do not have their usual force in cases involving Indian law.” The Indian canons...
Immigration Law

Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez

Vol. 136 No. 1 “[T]he court seems to churn along as usual, and I see my friends’ rights trampled in the process,” observed an immigrant detained at the...
Federal Courts

Patel v. Garland

Vol. 136 No. 1 Can limits on judicial review exist within a “regime of law and . . . constitutional government?” Just ask noncitizens, millions of whom are deportable at the stroke...
Remedies

Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C.

Vol. 136 No. 1 The Spending Clause empowers Congress to pass statutes that condition the receipt of federal funds on compliance with certain terms, including not discriminating based...
Habeas Corpus

Shinn v. Ramirez

Vol. 136 No. 1 Ten years ago, the Supreme Court held in Martinez v. Ryan that ineffective assistance of postconviction counsel, in an initial-review proceeding, may establish cause...
Copyright

Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc.

Vol. 135 No. 1 In an era of rapid technological progress, copyright law risks becoming outdated. With no guidance from the Supreme Court in over twenty-five years, the...