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Constitution Law Case Summaries

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WEEKLY OPINION SUMMARIES -June 07-June 11, 2004
CONSTITUTIONAL CASE SUMMARIES
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

* REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA v. ALTMAN

* CITY OF LITTLETON v. Z. J. GIFTS

* US v. MORALES-DE JESUS

* US v. LIFSHITZ

* HARTFORD COURANT CO. v. PELLEGRINO

* MOORE v. VEGA

* A. M. v. LUZERNE COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CTR.

* DOE v. PORTER

* AUSTIN v. WILKINSON

* METZGER v. VILLAGE OF CEDAR CREEK

* US v. PFEIFER

* ANDERSON v. MORROW

* BUONO v. NORTON

* US v. DHINGRA

* WHITE v. LAMBERT

* CORAL SPRINGS STREET SYS. v. CITY OF SUNRISE

* PEOPLPE v. JENKINS

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U.S. Supreme Court
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REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA v. ALTMAN (06/07/04 - No. 03-13)
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applies retroactively to actions
of foreign states that occurred before the FSIA's 1976 enactment. The
expropriation exception to the act would allow a private party to
recover paintings from Austria, which were seized by Nazis in 1948.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/0313.html

CITY OF LITTLETON v. Z. J. GIFTS (06/07/04 - No. 02-1609)
City's adult business license ordinance was found to meet the First
Amendment's requirements that such a licensing scheme ensure prompt
judicial review of an administrative decision denying a license.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/021609.html

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U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals
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US v. MORALES-DE JESUS (06/09/04 - No. 02-2695 )
Defendant unsuccessfully challenged his conviction for using interstate
goods to produce child pornography, alleging congress's abuse of
commerce clause power.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/1st/022695.html

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U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
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US v. LIFSHITZ (06/08/04 - No. 03-1221)
Court granted defendant's Fourth Amendment challenge to a probation
condition requiring the installation of monitoring equipment on his home
computer, because the condition as written was overbroad.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/031221p.pdf

HARTFORD COURANT CO. v. PELLEGRINO (06/08/04 - No. 03-9141)
The press and the public have a qualified First Amendment right to
inspect docket sheets. Court remanded for determination of whether the
sheets were sealed in accordance with judicial orders or statues.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/039141p.pdf

MOORE v. VEGA
(06/10/04 - No. 02-9209)
Defendant parole officers' motion for summary judgment on unreasonable
search claims should be granted because it was objectively reasonable
for the officers to believe that their actions while searching for a
parolee did not contravene the Fourth amendment.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/029209p.pdf

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U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
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A. M. v. LUZERNE COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CTR. (06/10/04 - No.
03-3075)
Summary judgment for the defense was reversed with regard to juvenile
plaintiff's substantive due process claims asserting that defendants
failed to protect him from harm while he was incarcerated in their
center.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/3rd/033075p.pdf

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U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
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DOE v. PORTER (06/07/04 - No. 02-5316/5823)
A school board may not ceded its supervisory authority over classes to
a college which requires its students and faculty to subscribe to a
sectarian statement of belief. This would result in a violation of the
First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/6th/04a0171p.html

AUSTIN v. WILKINSON (06/10/04 - No. 02-3429, -3816)
Prisoner's constitutional claims relating to their assignment to a
supermax facility were valid because a liberty interest existed in the
prison placement at issue and in the modification of the procedures that
govern that placement. However, the lower court erred in modifying state
prison regulations.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/6th/04a0176p.html

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U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
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METZGER v. VILLAGE OF CEDAR CREEK (06/08/04 - No. 03-3051)
A case alleging conspiracy by developer and owner of adjacent land to
take plaintiff's property without just compensation when they built a
levee causing flooding on plaintiff's property was properly dismissed as
unripe based on plaintiffs failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/033051p.pdf

US v. PFEIFER (06/10/04 - No. 02-3606)
Defendant's conviction for possession of a firearm after being
convicted of a misdemeanor was upheld because it did not violate the Ex
Post Facto Clause, the statute was not unconstitutionally vague, and it
did not interfere with the right to bear arms.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/023606p.pdf

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U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
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ANDERSON v. MORROW (06/07/04 - No. 02-35675)
Defendant's habeas petition was denied because the trial court did not
err in failing to admit evidence of his rape victim's sexual history,
and because Oregon's Rape statute under which he was convicted was not
unconstitutionally vague.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0235675p.pdf

BUONO v. NORTON (06/07/04 - No. 03-55032)
The presence of a religious symbol such as a cross on once public land
that has been transferred to a private party may still violate the
Establishment clause.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0355032p.pdf

US v. DHINGRA (06/08/04 - No. 03-10001)
Court failed to find 18 U.S.C. section 2422(b) (using the internet to
solicit sexual activity from a minor) facially unconstitutional as
overbroad, vague, or violative of the First or Tenth Amendments for
incorporating state criminal sex offense statues.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0310001p.pdf

WHITE v. LAMBERT (06/10/04 - No. 02-35550)
Habeas petitioner's challenge to the administrative decision
transferring him from one prison facility to another in a different
state failed because a prisoner does not have a constitutional right to
imprisonment in a specific prison.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0235550p.pdf

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U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
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CORAL SPRINGS STREET SYS. v. CITY OF SUNRISE (06/07/04 - No. 03-11497)
Court found case was moot, and it therefore lacked subject matter
jurisdiction on justicability grounds, because the sign ordinance in
question had been amended before the bringing of the original suit.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/11th/0311497p.pdf

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California Appellate Districts
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PEOPLPE v. JENKINS (06/10/04 - No. G032626)
Court ruled police officers' "knock and talk" procedure, which yielded
incriminating evidence, did not violate defendant's Fourth Amendment
rights because there is no requirement officers have reasonable
suspicion of criminal activity before they knock on someone's door.

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:
http://login.findlaw.com/scripts/callaw?dest=ca/caapp4th/slip/2004/g032626.html

To read the full text of this opinion, go to:[PDF File]
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/g032626.pdf

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