Supreme Court rejects campaign ad restrictions case News
Supreme Court rejects campaign ad restrictions case

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court Monday turned back a number of cases brought before it for appeal, including that of a Maine advocacy group [docket] which the Court deemed moot. The nonprofit Christian Civic League of Maine had challenged a district court dismissal [JURIST report] of its challenge to the electioneering communication ban in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 [FEC materials] prohibiting TV advertisements funded with corporate or union money that mention a specific candidate from airing 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before a general election. SCOTUSblog has more.

Other noteworthy rejections included:

  • Northwest Airlines Corp. v. Spirit Airlines Inc. [docket], where the court turned down a certiorari petition from Northwest filed five days late. Northwest was appealing a Sixth Circuit decision [opinion, PDF] holding that Northwest engaged in predatory pricing against Spirit in the Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia markets. AP has more.
  • Allred v. Superior Court [docket], where attorney Gloria Allred [personal website; Wikipedia profile] had asked the Supreme Court to review a California court decision [case summary] upholding a gag order in a murder case. Allred argued that the order violated the freedom of speech. Bloomberg News has more.
  • Tucker v. Philadelphia Daily News [docket], in which William Tucker sought to revive a libel suit brought by his late wife, civil rights activist C. DeLores Tucker [Wikipedia profile], after its dismissal [opinion, PDF] by Pennsylvania courts. Mrs. Tucker sued the Daily News for its reporting on a lawsuit she had filed against the rapper Tupac Shakur for his song lyrics that rhymed her last name with an obscenity. The Daily News described Mrs. Tucker's loss-of-consortium claim against Shakur as alleging that his lyrics had damaged her sex life. Mrs. Tucker said the claim referred to loss of "advice, society, companionship," and other aspects of the "family union." AP has more.
  • Hansl v. United States [docket], where former Nazi concentration camp guard John Hansl [advocacy website] asserted that the Eighth Circuit's decision [opinion, PDF] allowing the federal government to revoke his American citizenship should be reversed because he disclosed his role when he applied for a US visa in the 1950s and because his work did not amount to "personally assist[ing] in persecution." AP has more.

The court granted no writs of certiorari today in addition to those issued last week [JURIST report]. Read the full Order List [PDF].