US Supreme Court, Washington

27.03.2002

Hoffmann Plastic Compounds v. National Labor Relations Board, Illegal aliens ineligible for back-pay awards or other compensation flowing from employment secured by the use of fraudulently obtained documents

25 HRLJ 270 (2004)

26.06.2003

Lawrence v. Texas, Criminal convictions for adult, consensual private sexual practices common to a homosexual lifestyle / Violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment / Bowers decision of 1986 overruled / Explicit reference to the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights

24 HRLJ 371 (2003)

28.06.2004

Rasul et al. v. George W. Bush, Aliens held in military custody at Guantánamo Bay (Cuba) entitled to invoke habeas corpus / U.S. courts have jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of the detention at the naval station

25 HRLJ 112 (2004)

29.06.2006

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Petitioner Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard and personal driver, detained at Guantánamo Bay, charged for the crime of conspiracy / Military commission convened to try Hamdan fails to comply with the rule of law / Structure and procedure violate both the Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions

27 HRLJ 225 (2006)

25.03.2008

Medellín v. Texas, Domestic effects of an ICJ judgment (Avena and Other Mexican Nationals, 2004) in the United States / U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause and non-self-executing treaties

29 HRLJ 141 (2008)

12.06.2008

Boumediene et al. v. Bush et al., Alien detainees at Guantánamo entitled to writ of habeas corpus / Detainee Treatment Act 2005 creating the Combatant Status Review Tribunals to determine “enemy combatant” status no adequate and effective substitute for habeas corpus

29 HRLJ 107 (2008)

21.01.2010

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Unconstitutionality of federal law restricting financial contributions of corporations applicable during the 2008 Presidential election campaign / here: intended payment of US$1.2 million to make a film (with a pejorative tenor) available for video-on-demand about then-Senator Hillary Clinton within the last 30 days of the primary election / Scope of the First Amendment (free speech)

30 HRLJ 341 (2009-2010)

26.03.2012

Zivotofsky v. Clinton (No. 10-699), Determination whether an American born in Jerusalem may choose to have Israel listed as his place of birth on his passport / Political question doctrine not implicated

32 HRLJ 188 (2012)

17.04.2013

Kiobel et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. et al., Alleged torts on foreign soil (Nigeria) / Alien Tort Statute does not provide for jurisdiction in the U.S. / Presumption against extraterritorial application applies

33 HRLJ 202 (2013)

08.06.2015

Zivotofsky v. Kerry (No. 13-628), Israel as place of birth on passport / Congress cannot command the President

35 HRLJ 229 (2015)

26.06.2015

Obergefell et al., Same-sex couples’ right to marry / “Equal dignity in the eyes of the law”

35 HRLJ 204 (2015)

09.11.2015

Mullenix, Trooper of the Texas Department of Public Safety entitled to qualified immunity after use of deadly force / Shooting at a fugitive rather than waiting for the car driver to hit the spike strips already in place / Fugitive threatened twice during a high speed chase to kill any police officer in his path

35 HRLJ 435 (2015)

27.06.2016

Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, Undue burden on abortion access / Two provisions of the Texas House Bill 2, enacted in 2013, place a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus / Interpretation of the doctrine of claim preclusion (aspect of res judicata)

36 HRLJ 167 (2016)