Three Cases to Watch at the Supreme Court

By Elizabeth Slattery | October 29, 2018

The Supreme Court is back in session after a two-week break. The justices will hear arguments in a number of important cases, including ones dealing with coercive class-action settlements, using hovercrafts for moose hunting in Alaska, and Virginia’s ban on uranium mining.
Here are three cases to watch closely in the coming weeks.

Frank v. Gaos - Is it fair for the majority of a class-action settlement to go to third-party recipients with ties to the defendant and the class attorneys? ............

Sturgeon v. Frost - A moose hunter named John Sturgeon was using a small hovercraft to travel along the Nation River in Alaska’s Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve in 2007 when National Park Service rangers informed him that it is a crime to operate a hovercraft in federal preservation areas. Sturgeon protested that the Yukon-Charley is a state waterway and that Alaska law permits the use of hovercrafts. The hovercraft dispute led to a battle over which government owns the Nation River, and two trips to the Supreme Court................

Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren - This case also involves a dispute over federal and state authority. The Supreme Court has long held that, under the Constitution’s supremacy clause, state laws that conflict with federal law are pre-empted (meaning they are without effect)...........

These are just a few of the important cases coming up at the Supreme Court. Later this term, the justices will hear cases involving the 8th Amendment’s ban on excessive fines, the double jeopardy clause, and whether most of Oklahoma is actually an Indian reservation.......To Read More...