From: Findlaw Opinion Summaries June 12, 2008:
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, AEROSPACE & DEFENSE, CIVIL PROCEDURE, GOVERNMENT LAW, TRADE SECRETS
Taylor v. Sturgell, No. 07-371
"In a case involving two friends' and antique aircraft enthusiasts' separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests asking the FAA for copies of technical documents related to a vintage airplane, summary judgment finding petitioner's suit barred by claim preclusion based on his friend's prior suit is vacated and remanded where: 1) the Court disapproves the doctrine of preclusion by "virtual representation"; and 2) based on the record as it stood, the judgment against petitioner's friend in the prior action did not bar petitioner from maintaining the suit at hand."
CIVIL PROCEDURE, CLASS ACTIONS, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, DEBT COLLECTION, GOVERNMENT LAW, INTERNATIONAL LAW, JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE
Republic of the Philippines v. Pimentel, No. 06-1204
I"n an interpleader action commenced to determine the ownership of property allegedly stolen by Ferdinand Marcos when he was the President of the Republic of the Philippines, a circuit court's decision finding that the action could proceed without the Republic of the Philippines and a Philippine Commission as parties, which had successfully asserted sovereign immunity and been dismissed from the action, is reversed where: 1) the circuit court gave insufficient weight to the foreign sovereign status of those two parties; and 2) it further erred in reaching and discounting the merits of their claims"
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, GOVERNMENT LAW, HABEAS CORPUS, MILITARY LAW
Boumediene v. Bush, No. 06-1195, 06-1196
"In habeas proceedings brought by aliens detained at Guantanamo after being captured in Afghanistan or elsewhere abroad and designated enemy combatants by tribunals, the Court rules that petitioners have the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus. The procedures for review of the detainees' status provided by the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 are not an adequate and effective substitute for habeas corpus, and consequently, section 7 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), operates as an unconstitutional suspension of the writ"
.CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, HABEAS CORPUS, INTERNATIONAL LAW, MILITARY LAW
Munaf v. Geren, No. 06-1666
"In cases concerning the availability of habeas corpus relief arising from an international coalition force's detention of American citizens who voluntarily traveled to Iraq and were alleged to have committed crimes there, the Court rules that the habeas statute extends to American citizens held overseas by American forces operating subject to an American chain of command, even when those forces are acting as part of a multinational coalition. However, district courts may not exercise their habeas jurisdiction to enjoin the United States from transferring individuals alleged to have committed crimes and detained within the territory of a foreign sovereign to that sovereign's government for criminal prosecution."
CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, SENTENCING
Irizarry v. US, No. 06-7517
"Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(h), which states that "[b]efore the court may depart from the applicable sentencing range on a ground not identified . . . either in the presentence report or in a party's pre-hearing submission, the court must give the parties reasonable notice that it is contemplating such a departure," does not apply to a variance from a recommended Guidelines range."
