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.

Retroactivity

Edwards v. Vannoy

Vol. 135 No. 1 A fundamental principle of the rule of law (and indeed, rationality) holds that like cases should be decided alike. The law of retro-activity —...
Fourth Amendment

Caniglia v. Strom

Vol. 135 No. 1 In September 2005, John Roberts was confirmed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice’s ascendancy marked a concerted effort to promote...
Qualified Immunity

Taylor v. Riojas

Vol. 135 No. 1 Qualified immunity protects government officers from being sued for damages unless they have violated “clearly established” law. Following the high-profile police killings of spring...
Statutory Interpretation

Tanzin v. Tanvir

Vol. 135 No. 1 When a federal officer violates somebody’s constitutional rights, what remedies are appropriate for a court to grant? In the landmark case Bivens v. Six...
Indian Law

McGirt v. Oklahoma

Vol. 134 No. 1 “On the far end of the Trail of Tears [were] promise[s].” Much of federal Indian law jurisprudence is about whether promises to Indian tribes...
Constitutional Law

Kansas v. Glover

Vol. 134 No. 1 The Supreme Court once considered “reasonable suspicion” to be “one of the relatively simple concepts embodied in the Fourth Amendment.” Yet this ostensibly simple...
Congress

Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP

Vol. 134 No. 1 President Trump has shown unprecedented resistance to congressional oversight. Recently, he enlisted the Supreme Court as a referee. Last Term, in Trump v. Mazars...