Volume 472 — United States Reports

This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 472 of the United States Reports:

Vermont collects a use tax when cars are registered with it, but the tax is not imposed if the car was purchased in Vermont and a sales tax has been paid. Held: When the Vermont statute is viewed on its face, appellants have stated a claim of discrimination prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause. Pp. 18-28.

Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case deciding on the issue of silent school prayer.

Held: however, that the District Court had erred in ordering a reinstatement of benefits and in specifying the form of future notices. 21 Petitioners in No. 83-6381 sought review of the Court of Appeals’ modification of the District Court’s remedy, and the Department, in No. 83-1660, cross-petitioned for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the holding on liability.

The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) requires a bank holding company to obtain the approval of the Federal Reserve Board (Board) before it may acquire a bank. Held: The Connecticut and Massachusetts statutes are of the kind contemplated by the Douglas Amendment to lift its ban on interstate acquisitions.

Petitioner Lowe is the president and principal shareholder of a corporation (also a petitioner) that was registered as an investment… Held: Petitioners' publications fall within the statutory exclusion for bona fide publications, none of the petitioners is an "investment adviser" as defined in the Act, and therefore neither petitioners' unregistered status nor the SEC order against Lowe provides a justification for restraining the future publication of their newsletters.

The Pueblo Lands Act of 1924 was enacted to adjudicate and settle conflicting titles affecting lands claimed by respondent Pueblo Indian Tribe. Held: The conveyance of the easement was valid under § 17 of the Pueblo Lands Act. Pp. 249-255. (a) While the word "hereafter" in the first clause of § 17 supports the Court of Appeals' interpretation of the Act, such interpretation renders the requirement of the Secretary's approval a nullity until Congress acts.

Petitioner is a wholesale purchasing cooperative whose membership consists of office supply retailers in the Pacific Northwest States. Held: Petitioner's expulsion of respondent does not fall within the category of activity that is conclusively presumed to be anticompetitive so as to mandate per se invalidation under § 1 of the Sherman Act as a group boycott or concerted refusal to deal. Pp. 289-298.

Respondent investors (hereafter respondents) filed a damages action in Federal District Court, alleging that they incurred substantial trading losses after a securities broker (employed by… Held: There is no basis at this stage of the litigation for applying the in pari delicto defense to bar respondents' action. Pp. 306-319.

Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a prosecutor in a capital case must never tell the jury that jurors are not deciding whether the defendant will die. To do so violates the Eighth Amendment. The Court vacated the death sentence of the petitioner, Bobby Caldwell.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of age against employees who are between the ages of 40 and 70 by, inter alia, discharging… Held: Title 5 U.S.C. § 8335(b) does not, as a matter of law, establish that age 55 is a BFOQ for nonfederal firefighters within the meaning of the ADEA. Pp. 360-371.

Alabama's 1975 Death Penalty Act (later repealed) required a jury that convicted a defendant of any one of a number of specified aggravated crimes to "fix the punishment at death."… Held: Alabama's requirement that the jury return a "sentence" of death along with its guilty verdict did not render unconstitutional the death sentence the trial judge imposed after independently considering petitioner's background and character and the circumstances of his crime. Pp. 379-389.

Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell, 472 U.S. 400 (1985), is a US labor law case before the United States Supreme Court concerning age discrimination.

Richardson-Merrell Inc. v. Koller, 472 U.S. 424 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that to fall within the collateral order exception to the final judgment rule, an order must conclusively determine the disputed question, resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action, and be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. This case stands for the final judgment rule itself: a party must ordinarily raise all of their appellate issues under one and only one appeal following a final judgment.

Superintendent v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that due process required that prison disciplinary decisions to revoke good-time credits must be supported by "some evidence."

Maryland v. Macon, 472 U.S. 463 (1985), was a case that involved the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, also regarding First Amendment issues. Baxter Macon, a sales clerk, was charged with the sale of obscene materials after being arrested by a detective not in uniform, who stated that the magazines he purchased in Baxter's store were obscene. The court ruled that the purchase of the magazines was not a seizure, and Macon was found guilty of the sale of obscene materials. The case involves the court analyzing the Fourth Amendment and determining whether the action taken by the detective was a seizure or not, which would determine if the magazines could be used in the trial as evidence.

McDonald v. Smith, 472 U.S. 479 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the right to petition does not provide absolute immunity to petitioners; it is subject to the same restrictions as other First Amendment rights.

Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc., 472 U.S. 491 (1985), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that though portions of a law against obscenity and prostitution might be invalid, it would not be invalidated as a whole unless severing unconstitutional provisions would result in an unworkable law.

Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case deciding on the issue of immunity of cabinet officers from suits from individuals.

Petitioners are multiemployer benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Held: Respondents must allow petitioners to conduct the requested audit. Pp. 565-581.

Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case that decided whether a dominant firm's unilateral refusal to deal with a competitor could establish a monopolization claim under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The unanimous Supreme Court agreed with the 10th Circuit that terminating a pro-consumer joint venture without a legitimate business justification could constitute illegal monopolization. However, its decision created an exception to the general rule that firms can decide with whom to do business absent collusion, sparking significant controversy about the appropriate scope of this exception. In a subsequent case, Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V.

A New Mexico statute exempts from the State's property tax $2,000 of the taxable value of property of honorably discharged veterans who… Held: The New Mexico statute's residence requirement violates the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause. Pp. 616-624. (a) By dividing resident Vietnam veterans into two groups, based on whether they were residents before May 8, 1976, the statute creates a fixed permanent distinction between classes of concededly bona fide residents.

In re Snyder, 472 U.S. 634 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that an attorney's curt letter to a court employee, followed by the attorney's refusal to apologize for sending the letter, did not justify suspending the attorney from practicing law in federal court.

Under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (Act), a federal employee may challenge agency disciplinary action by appealing the agency's decision to the… Held: Under § 7701(c)(2)(A), the employee-grievant must show error that caused substantial prejudice to his individual rights by possibly affecting the agency's decision. Pp. 657-665. (a) The Board has so interpreted § 7701(c)(2)(A) in its regulation defining "harmful error," and its interpretation is entitled to deference.

United States v. Albertini, 472 U.S. 675 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case about the First Amendment rights of a man who had been banned from entering a military base and later entered the base where he participated in a protest. According to the court, the base did not become a public forum just because it was holding an open house at the time. The court held that the government's interest in securing military bases justified excluding people who had been ordered not to reenter. This First Amendment holding applied a version of the test from United States v. O'Brien (1968) for content-neutral incidental burdens on speech.

Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc., 472 U.S. 703 (1985), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a state statute providing employees with an absolute right not to work on their chosen Sabbath violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Held: did not give the distiller a fee interest in the premises, nor did it give the Government the right to anything more than a first or prior lien. Id., at 339 . That holding is irrelevant to the present controversy.

Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc., 472 U.S. 749 (1985), was a Supreme Court case which held that a credit reporting agency could be liable in defamation if it carelessly relayed (i.e. published) false information that a business had declared bankruptcy when in fact it had not.

Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 472 U.S. 797 (1985), was a conflict of laws case decided by the United States Supreme Court.

Petitioner named representatives of a class of undocumented and unadmitted aliens from Haiti filed suit in Federal District Court alleging that the change by the Immigration and Naturalization… Held: Because the current statutes and regulations provide petitioners with nondiscriminatory parole consideration, there was no need for the Court of Appeals to address the constitutional issue, but it properly remanded the case to the District Court.