Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Sunday, June 25, 2021

Each week, the Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup presents a few tidbits of news and Twitter posts from the past week concerning appellate advocacy. As always, if you see something during the week that you think we should be sure to include, feel free to send a quick note to either (1) Dan Real at DReal@Creighton.edu or on Twitter @Daniel_L_Real or (2) Catharine Du Bois at DuBoisLegalWriting@gmail.com or on Twitter @CLDLegalWriting.

US Supreme Court Opinions and News

• The Supreme Court sided with the student in the recent and much-anticipated First Amendment student speech case, finding that the school violated the student’s right to free speech when it punished her for a Snapchat post made while the student was off school grounds. The Court applied the traditional Tinker test and determined that this student’s speech was not disruptive. Although finding for the student, the decision preserved the right of school administers to police off-campus speech that meets the Tinker standard, that is, speech that “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others.” The decision states, “[t]he school’s regulatory interests remain significant in some off-campus circumstances. … [including] serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals; threats aimed at teachers or other students; the failure to follow rules concerning lessons, the writing of papers, the use of computers, or participation in other online school activities; and breaches of school security devices, including material maintained within school computers.”  See the order and a sampling of the many reports, including from The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Associated Press, NPR, and The New York Times.

• The Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment does not permit the police to enter a home or grounds except in emergencies and that “hot pursuit” does not “trigger a categorical rule allowing home entry.” In this case, after a motorist failed to stop when officers attempted to pull him over, the officers followed the motorist into his garage and arrested him for driving under the influence. The motorist sued, arguing that the officers had violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.  The Court agreed, stating, “when the officer has time to get a warrant, he must do so – even though the misdemeanant fled.” The Court reaffirmed that entry without a warrant is permitted in circumstances of true emergency, stating “[o]n many occasions, the officer will have good reason to enter – to prevent imminent harms of violence, destruction of evidence, or escape from the home.”  See the order and reports in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today.

• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of private landowners, striking a California regulation that permitted union organizers to recruit farm workers at their workplace.  The Court determined that the regulation amounted to a taking of private property because it allowed unions to invade the landowners’ property without compensating the property owner.  See the order and reports from The New York Times, The Associated Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg. 

• This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved bills that would expand video coverage of federal court trials and other proceedings, including allowing the filming of Supreme Court argument for the first time. These bills are the first in over ten years aiming to expand live coverage of federal proceedings. See reports from Politico and Forbes.

Appellate Court Opinions and News

• The Ninth Circuit stayed a recent lower court ruling that had struck California’s 30-year old ban on assault rifles. The judge striking the ban compared the AR-15 rifle to a Swiss Army Knife, calling it “good for both home and battle.” The Ninth Circuit’s short order stays the ruling pending other related cases challenging the assault weapons ban.  See the ruling and reports from CNN and The LA Times.