Volume 481 — United States Reports

This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 481 of the United States Reports:

In enacting the federal labor relations statutes, Congress did not include a statute of limitations expressly applicable to claims against unions for breach of their duty of fair representation. Held: The action was timely commenced because the complaint was filed within the 6-month period.

The "pre-emption clause" (§ 514(a)) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) provides that ERISA supersedes all state laws insofar as they "relate to any employee benefit plan,"… Held: ERISA pre-empts respondent's suit under state common law for alleged improper processing of his claim for benefits under the ERISA-regulated benefit plan. Pp. 44-57.

Section 502(a)(1)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) provides that a participant or beneficiary may bring a… Held: Under Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, 481 U.S. 41, 107 S.Ct. 1549, 95 L.Ed.2d 39, respondent's common law contract and tort claims are pre-empted by ERISA, and this lawsuit falls directly under § 502(a)(1)(B), which provides an exclusive federal cause of action for resolution of suits by beneficiaries to recover benefits from a…

The federal Williams Act and implementing regulations govern hostile corporate stock tender offers by requiring, inter alia, that offers remain open for at least 20 business days. Held: The Indiana Act is consistent with the provisions and purposes of the Williams Act and is not pre-empted thereby. Pp. 78-87.

Under United States v. Sells Engineering, Inc., 463 U.S. 418, 103 S.Ct. 3133, 77 L.Ed.2d 743, attorneys for the Civil Division (CD) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) may not automatically obtain… Held: An attorney who conducted a criminal prosecution may make continued use of grand jury materials in the civil phase of the dispute without obtaining a court order to do so under Rule 6(e).

Petitioner, a state prisoner, filed a habeas corpus action in Federal District Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Held: Where the State fails to raise an arguably meritorious nonexhaustion defense in the district court, the court of appeals should exercise discretion in each case to determine whether the interests of comity and federalism, and the interests of justice, will be better served by addressing the merits forthwith or by requiring a series…

Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137 (1987), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court qualified the rule it set forth in Enmund v. Florida (1982). Just as in Enmund, in Tison the Court applied the proportionality principle to conclude that the death penalty was an appropriate punishment for a felony murderer who was a major participant in the underlying felony and exhibited a reckless indifference to human life.

Cruz v. New York, 481 U.S. 186 (1987), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that the Confrontation Clause of the Constitution's Sixth Amendment barred the admission, in a joint trial, of a non-testifying codefendant's confession incriminating the defendant, even if the defendant's own confession was admitted against him.

Respondent and Benjamin Williams were charged with murder, robbery, and assault. At their joint trial, Williams' confession was admitted over respondent's objection. Held: The Confrontation Clause is not violated by the admission of a nontestifying codefendant's confession with a proper limiting instruction when, as here, the confession is redacted to eliminate not only the defendant's name, but any reference to her existence.

Arkansas Writers' Project, Inc. v. Ragland, 481 U.S. 221 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a sales-tax scheme that taxes general interest magazines, but exempts newspapers and religious, professional, trade, and sports journals, violates the First Amendment's freedom of the press guarantee.

United States v. General Dynamics Corp., 481 U.S. 239 (1987), is a United States Supreme Court case, which hold that under 162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 162(a)) and Treasury Regulation 1.461-1(a)(2) ( 26 CFR 1.461-1(a)(2)), the "all events" test entitled an accrual-basis taxpayer to a federal income tax business-expense deduction, for the taxable year in which (1) all events had occurred which determined the fact of the taxpayer's liability, and (2) the amount of that liability could be determined with reasonable accuracy.

Section 405 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 forbids the discharge of employees in the commercial motor transportation industry in retaliation for refusing to operate motor… Held: The judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part. 624 F.Supp. 197, affirmed in part and reversed in part. Justice MARSHALL, joined by Justice BLACKMUN, Justice POWELL, and Justice O'CONNOR, concluded that: 1 1.

McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987), is a United States Supreme Court case, in which the death sentence of Warren McCleskey for armed robbery and murder was upheld. The Court said the "racially disproportionate impact" in the Georgia death penalty indicated by a comprehensive scientific study was not enough to mitigate a death penalty determination without showing a "racially discriminatory purpose." McCleskey has been described as the "most far-reaching post-Gregg challenge to capital sentencing." McCleskey has been named as one of the worst Supreme Court decisions since World War II by a Los Angeles Times poll of liberal jurists.

The federal statute governing the Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program requires participating States to consider a… Held: The judgment is reversed. 774 F.2d 1270 (CA 4 1985), reversed. Justice SCALIA, joined by THE CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice WHITE, andJustice STEVENS, concluded that respondents have not demonstrated that Virginia's policy of treating personal injury awards as income is inconsistent with the AFDC statute or HHS' regulations. Pp. 374-383.

Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in a separate postconviction proceeding. Held: Petitioner was sentenced to death in proceedings that did not comport with the requirement that the sentencer may neither refuse to consider nor be precluded from considering any relevant mitigating evidence.

The Clean Water Act (Act) authorizes injunctive relief against violators (33 U.S.C. § 1319(b)) and subjects them to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per day (§ 1319(d)). Held: inter alia, that the District Court had exercised statutorily conferred equitable power in assessing monetary penalties. Held: 1. The Seventh Amendment guarantees a jury trial to determine liability in actions by the Government seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief under the Act.

Respondent Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) which represents railroad employes nationwide, had a dispute over renewal of a collective-bargaining agreement with a small railroad that… Held: Under the Norris-LaGuardia Act, a federal court does not have JURISDICTION to enjoin secondary picketing in railway labor disputes. Pp. 437-453.

Section 306 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976—which prohibits discriminatory state taxation of railroad property—provides, in § 306(b)(1), that a… Held: Section 306 permits federal-court review of petitioner's claim of alleged overvaluation of its property. Pp. 460-464. (a) Respondents' contention that § 306 never permits district-court review of claims of discriminatory taxation based upon overvaluation of railroad property is without merit.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (Act) requires registration, reporting, and disclosure by persons engaging in propaganda on behalf of foreign powers. Held: Appellee has standing to challenge the Act's use of the term "political propaganda" as a violation of the First Amendment. Pp. 472-477.

Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case decided in 1987. In this case, the Court held that the "value" prong, which is the third prong of the Miller test established in Supreme Court's 1973 case Miller v. California, must be assessed based on a "reasonable person" standard. In contrast, the Court's decision in Pope reiterated its holding in the 1977 case Smith v. United States that the first and second prongs of the Miller test — "appeal to prurient interest" and "patent offensiveness" — must be decided based on "contemporary community standards".

After being advised of his Miranda rights while in custody for killing his son, respondent stated that he did not wish to answer any… Held: The police's actions following respondent's refusal to be questioned without a lawyer did not constitute interrogation or its functional equivalent. The purpose of Miranda and Innis is to prevent the government from using the coercive nature of confinement to extract confessions that would not be given in an unrestrained environment.

Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte, 481 U.S. 537 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court unanimously held that the Unruh Civil Rights Act does not violate the First Amendment by requiring California Rotary Clubs to admit women.

Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U.S. 551 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the right to counsel.

Respondent Union fined two of its members (Schoux and Choate), who worked as supervisors, for violating its constitution by working for employers that did not have a… Held: A union does not violate § 8(b)(1)(B) when it disciplines a supervisor union member who does not participate as the employer's representative in collective bargaining or grievance adjustment, and whose employer has not entered into a collective-bargaining agreement with the union. Pp. 580-596.

Saint Francis College v. al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604 (1987), is a United States labor law case decided by the United States Supreme Court.

Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb, 481 U.S. 615 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Jewish people can file racial discrimination suits.

Held: had determined that the husband, as the retired railroad employee, should be the exclusive beneficiary. Id., at 583 . And this right was protected by a statutory prohibition against "garnishment, attachment, or other legal process under any circumstances whatsoever." Id., at 576 , quoting § 14 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, 88 Stat. 1345 .

Under Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776, and its progeny, the right to an impartial jury under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments prohibits the exclusion of venire… Held: The judgment is reversed in part and the case is remanded. 472 So.2d 409, reversed in part and remanded.

United States v. Johnson, 481 U.S. 681 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court barred the widow of a serviceman killed while piloting a helicopter on a United States Coast Guard rescue mission from bringing her claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (the "FTCA" or the "Act"). The decision was based upon the Supreme Court's holding in Feres v. United States (1950): "[T]he Government is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries to servicemen where the injuries arise out of or are in the course of activity incident to service."

Hodel v. Irving, 481 U.S. 704 (1987), is a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a statute ordering the escheat of fractional interests in real property which had been bequeathed to members of the Oglala Sioux tribe was an unconstitutional taking which required just compensation.

United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987), was a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the Bail Reform Act of 1984 was constitutional, which permitted the federal courts to detain an arrestee prior to trial if the government could prove that the individual was potentially a danger to society. The Act was held to violate neither the United States Constitution's Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment nor its Excessive Bail Clause of the Eighth Amendment.

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 23(c) provides that, when a State appeals a federal-court decision granting a writ of habeas corpus to a state prisoner, the habeas petitioner shall be released… Held: In deciding under Rules 23(c) and (d) whether to stay pending appeal a district court order granting relief to a habeas petitioner, federal courts are not restricted to considering only the petitioner's risk of flight.

In an agreement settling a suit in which they had been named as defendants, two of the petitioners consented to the entry of a permanent injunction prohibiting them from infringing the trademark of… Held: The judgment is reversed. 780 F.2d 179 (CA2 1985), reversed.

Title 8 U.S.C. § 1326 provides that any alien who has been deported and thereafter enters the United States is guilty of a felony. Held: The text, legislative history, and background of § 1326 indicate that Congress did not intend the validity of an underlying deportation order to be contestable in a § 1326 prosecution.

Respondent, an electrical apprentice employed by Florida Power and Light Company (Florida Power), was injured while assigned to a job that required her to perform tasks allegedly beyond the scope of… Held: Respondent's claim is not sufficiently independent of the collective-bargaining agreement to withstand § 301's pre-emptive force. Pp. 855-862.