Volume 490 — United States Reports

This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 490 of the United States Reports:

City of Dallas v. Stanglin, 490 U.S. 19 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court decision considering the First Amendment associational rights of teenagers at a dance hall. The Court upheld an ordinance imposing age limits on teen dance halls, ruling that gathering for recreational dancing is not an "expressive association" under the First Amendment.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U.S. 30 (1989), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Indian Child Welfare Act governed adoptions of Indian children. It ruled that a tribal court had jurisdiction over a state court, regardless of the location of birth of the child, if the child or the natural parents resided on the reservation.

Amerada Hess Corp. v. Division of Taxation, 490 U.S. 66 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, when determining how much business a corporation has done in a state for tax purposes, the Dormant Commerce Clause requires only that the formula be rational.

The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. (FSLIC), in its capacity as receiver of a state-chartered savings and loan association, brought an action in… Held: The District Court has jurisdiction over the FSLIC's action. Pp. 1627-1629. (a) In view of the fact that this case was "commenced by" a federal agency "expressly authorized to sue" under 12 U.S.C. § 1725(c), § 1345 supports the District Court's jurisdiction unless § 1730(k)(1) "otherwise provide[s]." Pp. 84-85.

Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U.S. 720, 97 S.Ct. 2061, 52 L.Ed.2d 707, held that, generally, only overcharged direct purchasers, and not subsequent indirect purchasers, are entitled to… Held: The rule limiting federal antitrust recoveries to direct purchasers does not prevent indirect purchasers from recovering damages flowing from state antitrust law violations. Pp. 100-106. (a) The state indirect purchaser statutes are not pre-empted by the federal antitrust laws.

Petitioner Commonwealth issued criminal complaints charging that, in failing to compensate two discharged bank vice presidents for vacation time they accrued but did not use, respondent bank… Held: A policy of paying discharged employees for their unused vacation time does not constitute an "employee welfare benefit plan" within the meaning of § 3(1) of ERISA, and a criminal action to enforce that policy is therefore not foreclosed by § 514(a). Pp. 112-121.

This case involves wrongful death actions against Korean Air Lines, Ltd. (KAL), by survivors of persons killed when one of its planes was destroyed by a Soviet… Held: International air carriers do not lose the benefit of the Warsaw Convention's damages limitation if they fail to provide notice of that limitation in passenger tickets. The Montreal Agreement concededly does not impose such a sanction, and the Convention's plain language also does not direct that result.

Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico, 490 U.S. 163 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case that decided states may impose taxes on non-tribal commercial activity that takes place on tribal land.

Section 7005 of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) directs the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to establish a schedule of pipeline safety user fees based on… Held: Section 7005 of COBRA is not an unconstitutional delegation of the taxing power by Congress to the Executive Branch. Pp. 218-224.

Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989), is a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on the issues of prescriptive sex discrimination and employer liability for sex discrimination. The employee, Ann Hopkins, sued her former employer, the accounting firm Price Waterhouse. She argued that the firm denied her partnership because she did not fit the partners' idea of what a female employee should look and act like. The employer failed to prove that it would have denied her partnership anyway, and the Court held that constituted sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The ruling established that gender stereotyping is actionable as sex discrimination.

Petitioner Mallard, an attorney recently admitted to practice before the District Court, was selected to represent indigent inmates in their suit in that court against prison officials under 42… Held: Section 1915(d) does not authorize a federal court to require an unwilling attorney to represent an indigent litigant in a civil case. The section's operative term is "request," which bespeaks an intent not to authorize mandatory appointments of counsel.

Held: Williams’ Eighth Amendment claims against two of the defendants had been wrongly dismissed.

The Forest Service is authorized by statute to manage national forests for, inter alia, recreational purposes. Held: NEPA does not impose a substantive duty on agencies to mitigate adverse environmental effects or to include in each EIS a fully developed mitigation plan.

The Elk Creek Dam is part of a three-dam project designed to control the water supply in Oregon's Rogue River Basin. Held: inter alia, that the Corps' decision not to prepare a second supplemental EIS to address the new information was reasonable.

Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court determined that an objective reasonableness standard should apply to a civilian's claim that law enforcement officials used excessive force in the course of making an arrest, investigatory stop, or other "seizure" of their person.

Held: "[T]he existence of obvious, easy alternatives may be evidence that the regulation is not reasonable, but is an `exaggerated response' to prison concerns. . . .

United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a civil sanction is criminal punishment and can activate the Double Jeopardy Clause if it serves the traditional goals of punishment: retribution or deterrence.

Following the District Court's issuance of a consent decree settling a class action brought by Kentucky penal inmates under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Commonwealth promulgated "Corrections Policies and… Held: The Kentucky regulations do not give state inmates a liberty interest in receiving visitors that is entitled to the protections of the Due Process Clause. Pp. 459-465.

Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/American Express Inc., 490 U.S. 477 (1989), is a United States Supreme Court decision holding that investors’ claims under the Securities Act of 1933 can be resolved through arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act. The case arose from suits by Texas investors against their brokerage house. By a 5–4 margin the Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and ruled that their claims under the Securities Act of 1933, which regulates trading in the primary market, must be arbitrated as stipulated in their customer agreements. The decision overruled the 1953 Wilko v. Swan decision. Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion found that arbitration procedures offered more adequate protection for investors than they had when that case was decided.

Held: however, that a habeas petitioner may be “in custody” under a conviction when the sentence imposed for that conviction has fully expired at the time his petition is filed. Indeed, our decision in Carafas v. LaVallee, supra, strongly implies the contrary.

Lauro Lines s.r.l. v. Chasser, 490 U.S. 495 (1989), is the touchstone case in which the United States Supreme Court laid out the law of interlocutory appeals for United States federal courts.

In petitioner Green's product liability action against respondent Bock, the manufacturer of a machine that injured Green, Bock impeached Green's testimony… Held: inter alia, that Rule 609(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Evidence—which specifies that evidence that a witness has been convicted of a felony "shall" be admitted for the purpose of attacking the witness' credibility "only if" the court determines that the probativeness of the evidence outweighs its prejudice "to the…

Held: so far as the same is not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, shall be extended to and govern the said courts in the trial and disposition of the cause . . . .” 4 Cf. Chardon v. Fumero Soto, 462 U. S. 650, 662 (1983) (“Until Congress enacts a federal statute of limitations to govern § 1983 litigation, comparable to the statute it ultimately enacted to solve the analogous problems…

Finley v. United States, 490 U.S. 545 (1989), was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States addressing the jurisdictional requirements of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). In response to the Finley decision, the United States Congress enacted a new statute on supplemental jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

In direct response to McCarty v. McCarty, 453 U.S. 210, 101 S.Ct. 2728, 69 L.Ed.2d 589, which held that federal law as it then existed completely pre-empted the application of state community… Held: The Act does not grant state courts the power to treat as property divisible upon divorce military retirement pay waived by the retiree in order to receive veterans' disability benefits.

Among other things, the New Mexico-Arizona Enabling Act of 1910 granted Arizona certain lands, excluding mineral lands, in trust for the support of public schools, and, in § 28, provided that granted… Held: The judgment is affirmed. 155 Ariz. 484, 747 P.2d 1183, affirmed.

Hildwin v. Florida, 490 U. S. 638 (1972), is a United States Supreme Court case which addresses the sixth amendment to the United States Constitution. It considers if imposition of the death penalty when no specific finding of aggravating factors was made by the jury. In a per curiam decision, the court ruled that there is no need for the jury to present specific findings when imposing the death penalty, as the judge is the one who decides the fact while the jury merely gives recommendations to the judge.

Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 642 (1989), was a court case concerning employment discrimination, argued before the United States Supreme Court on January 18, 1989, and decided on June 5, 1989.

Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680 (1989), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court relating to the Internal Revenue Code § 170 charitable contribution deduction.

Mead Corp. v. Tilley, 490 U.S. 714 (1989), is a US labor law case, concerning occupational pensions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989), is a US copyright law and labor law case of a United States Supreme Court case regarding ownership of copyright.

Martin v. Wilks, 490 U.S. 755 (1989), was a U.S. Supreme Court case brought by Robert K. Wilks challenging the validity of race-based hiring practices.

Alabama v. Smith, 490 U.S. 794 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, if a criminal defendant received a sentence after a guilty plea but withdrew that plea and was convicted at trial, the judge may hand down a more severe sentence.

South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case which held that testimony in the form of a victim impact statement is admissible during the sentencing phase of a trial only if it directly relates to the "circumstances of the crime." This case was later overruled by the Supreme Court decision in Payne v. Tennessee.

Title 28 U.S.C. § 1332 confers diversity jurisdiction in the district courts when a citizen of one State sues both aliens and citizens of a State different from the plaintiff's, § 1332(a)(3), and… Held: A court of appeals has the authority to grant a motion to dismiss a dispensable nondiverse party and need not remand the case to the district court for dismissal in that court's discretion. Pp. 830-838.

In holding that a Bankruptcy Court's injunction against petitioner Board of Equalization's assessment of a state sales tax upon the proceeds of a trustee's liquidation sale of inventory also barred… Held: Neither the doctrine of intergovernmental tax immunity nor § 960 proscribes the imposition of a sales or use tax on a bankruptcy liquidation sale. Pp. 847-854.

A Magistrate assigned by the District Judge conducted the voir dire examination and jury selection for petitioners' trial on multiple felony counts. Held: Presiding at the selection of a jury in a felony trial without the defendant's consent is not one of the "additional duties" that the Act permits courts to assign to magistrates. Pp. 863-876.

After a final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services denied respondent's application for Social Security disability benefits, she brought an action for judicial review in the District… Held: It is within a federal court's power under the EAJA to award a Social Security claimant attorney's fees for representation provided during administrative proceedings held pursuant to a district court order remanding the action to the Secretary. Pp. 883-893.

Before 1979 collective-bargaining agreements between respondents AT & T Technologies, Inc., and Local 1942, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, had determined a worker's… Held: Under § 703(h) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(h), the operation of a seniority system having a disparate impact on men and women is not unlawful unless discriminatory intent is proved.