{"id":105,"date":"2013-01-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/donmissy\/remaining-merits-cases-in-plain-english\/"},"modified":"2013-01-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-31T00:00:00","slug":"remaining-merits-cases-in-plain-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/donmissy\/remaining-merits-cases-in-plain-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Remaining merits cases: In Plain English"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday the Court issued four opinions in argued cases.\u00a0 Between tomorrow and the end of next week, we expect the Court to issue ten more opinions in argued cases.\u00a0 (That number is based on the assumption that the Court will issue only one opinion covering all of the health care cases and issues; whether the Court will in fact do so remains to be seen.)\u00a0 Here \u2013 after the jump \u2013 are the \u201cPlain English\u201d questions at issue in each of the outstanding cases.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

First American Financial Corp. v. Edwards<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Argued on November 28, 2011<\/p>\n

Plain English Issue<\/strong>: Whether lawsuits under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which allows homebuyers to sue banks and title companies when they pay kickbacks for the closing of a mortgage loan, are constitutional if the kickback does not affect the price or quality of the services provided?<\/p>\n

Federal Communications Commission v. Fox<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Argued on January 10, 2012<\/p>\n

Plain English Issue<\/strong>: Whether the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s standards for indecency on television are too vague to be constitutional.<\/p>\n

Knox v. Service Employees International Union<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Argued on January 10, 2012<\/p>\n

Plain English Issue<\/strong>:\u00a0Whether a state can require its employees to pay a special union fee that will be spent for political purposes without first giving the employees information about the fee and a chance to object to it.<\/p>\n

United States v. Alvarez<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Argued on February 22, 2012<\/p>\n

Plain English Issue<\/strong>: Whether a federal law that makes it a crime to lie about receiving military medals or honors violates the First Amendment\u2019s guarantee of the right to free speech.<\/p>\n

Southern Union Company v. United States<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Argued on March 19, 2012<\/p>\n

Plain English Issue<\/strong>: Whether the Constitution requires that a jury, rather than a judge, must find beyond a reasonable doubt any fact that leads to a higher fine for a criminal defendant.<\/p>\n

Miller v. Alabama<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jackson v. Hobbs<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Argued separately on March 20, 2012<\/p>\n

Plain English Issue<\/strong>: Whether a sentence of life without parole for someone who was convicted of murder when he was fourteen violates the Constitution\u2019s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0health care cases<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Argued March 26-28, 2012<\/p>\n