LEGAL UPDATE: RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS AND BEYOND. Chaka Donaldson, NEA Office of General Counsel

Transcription

1 LEGAL UPDATE: RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS AND BEYOND Chaka Donaldson, NEA Office of General Counsel

2 2017 SCOTUS Decisions

3 Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer Can a state prohibit a Church from receiving a playground resurfacing grant? Answer: NO. Generally available benefits can t be withheld based on recipient s religious identity. Narrow Ruling n Court explicitly notes that it is not deciding whether a state could refuse to provide generally available benefit based on religious uses to which funds will be put (i.e., vouchers) n Ruling leaves standing state constitutional provisions in 38 states that prohibit aid for religious uses

4 Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District In order for a school to meet its substantive obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a school must offer an individualized education program that is reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child s circumstances. A unanimous 8-0 decision

5 Fry v. Napolean Community Schools Parents brought suit against school district under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (504), not the IDEA SCOTUS held that exhaustion under IDEA unnecessary when plaintiff s suit focuses on something other than the denial of the IDEA s core guarantee

6 First Amendment Decisions Matal v. Tam: The disparagement clause of the Lanham Act violates the First Amendment s free speech clause. Packingham v. North Carolina: State statute restricting sex offenders from using social networking websites violates First Amendment s free speech clause.

7 Other Major Decisions Sixth Amendment Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado impact of racially biased juror statements on impeachment of verdict. Bivens Ziglar v. Abbasi limits the Bivens remedy against federal officials to cases with facts similar to previous cases.

8 MAJOR SCOTUS DECISIONS

9 Friedrichs Friedrichs v. Calif. Teachers Association (2016) lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of fair share fees in all public-sector employment. Claimed that fair share fees violate the First Amendment rights of non-members. In other words: the First Amendment operates as a national Right to Work law in the public sector On a 4-4 decision, the Court upheld fair share fees

10 Education Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2015) University s race-conscious undergraduate admissions program lawful under the Equal Protection Clause Ohio v. Clark (2015) teachers are not law enforcement agents under the 6 th Amendment Confrontation Clause

11 Employee Rights and Discrimination Heffernan v. City of Paterson, N.J. (2016) The First Amendment & Section 1983 prohibit retaliatory action based on the employer s perception (even if mistaken) of the employee s political affiliation or beliefs. CRST Van Expedited v. EEOC (2016) A favorable ruling on the merits is not necessary for a defendant to be a prevailing party for purposes of an award of attorney s fees under Title VII.

12 Employee Rights and Discrimination Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (2015) The Pregnancy Discrimination requires treating pregnant workers requests for accommodation similar to nonpregnant workers. EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores (2015) - A plaintiff asserting a disparate treatment claim need only show that the EE s need for accommodation was a motivating factor in the ER s decision.

13 Employee Rights and Discrimination Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk (2014) - The time spent by warehouse workers waiting to undergo and undergoing security screenings is not compensable under the FLSA. Tyson Foods v. Bousphakeo (2016) Representative evidence suffices to maintain class actions in FLSA case.

14 First Amendment Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway (2014) Establishment Clause not violated by opening town board meetings with overtly religious prayer. Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona (2014) Striking down a town s sign code that imposed more stringent restrictions on temporary directional signs than other signs.

15 Immigration United States v. Texas (2016) Challenge by several states to President Obama s deferred action program for immigration States argued that policy was unconstitutional and improperly promulgated under APA. Fifth Circuit struck it down on APA grounds. Court split 4-4, leaving lower court ruling in place.

16 Health Whole Woman s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016) struck down two Texas restrictions on abortion services as an undue burden. Zubik v. Burwell (2016) compromise on challenge by religious non-profits, colleges, and schools to religious accommodation for Affordable Care Act s (ACA) birth control mandate. King v. Burwell (2015) upholding ACA s subsidies.

17 Civil Rights Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)- The 14th Amendment, requires a state to license marriages for same-sex couples. Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project (2015) - Disparateimpact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act.

18 Voting Evenwel v. Abbott (2016) Rejecting claim that legislative districts must be based on eligible voters, rather than total population. Harris v. Arizona Ind. Redistr. Comm n. (2016) Upholding Arizona s independent redistricting plan, which was drawn to achieve compliance with the Voting Rights Act.

19 Criminal Law Rodriguez v. U.S. (2015) - Absent reasonable suspicion, police extension of a traffic stop to conduct a dog sniff violates the Constitution s shield against unreasonable seizures. Heien v. North Carolina (2014) - A police officer s reasonable mistake of law gives rise to reasonable suspicion that justifies a traffic stop under the Fourth Amendment.

20 Coming up next...

21 October 2017 Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. V. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Does state civil rights law requiring service without discrimination violate the First Amendment? Trump v. IRAP, Trump v. Hawaii Travel ban case Gil v. Whitford Is political gerrymandering reviewable? NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA Do arbitration agreements barring class actions violate the NLRA?

22 Maybe? Fair share fees (again)? Cert petition filed in Janus v. AFSCME Court will likely decide on Sept. 25 th whether to take the case Exclusive Representation? Cert petition filed in Hill v. SEIU

23 New Federal Law The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

24 ESSA Overview Signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015 Bipartisan support Reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act through FY2020 Shifts decision-making back to states and local school districts Ends many of the mandates of NCLB

25 Major Differences from NCLB Removed AYP Mandated interventions removed Dept. of Ed. prohibited from requiring states to tie teacher evaluations to test scores Accountability systems based solely on test scores removed

26 What remains of NCLB? States must still have college and career ready standards Maintains testing requirements Disaggregated data reporting from student subgroups Interventions

27 Secretarial Prohibitions Prohibitions on the U.S. Department of Education s ability throughout the law including on: Standards and assessments Elements or percentages of the accountability system Teacher evaluation Teacher effectiveness