News[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday heard argument on two issues: a First Amendment challenge to the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act on trademarks, and whether a government official can be held individually responsible for their role in a potentially unconstitutional detention. In Lee v. Tam [SCOTUSblog materials], the justices heard arguments [transcript, PDF] on whether Simon Tam’s band, The Slants [official website], should be permitted trademark registration. Tam is an advocate, and he and his band seek to shed light on discrimination against Asian-Americans. Trademark registration for The Slants was denied by the US Patent and Trademark Office based on The Slants’ name being derogatory to Asian-Americans. Under the Lanham Act [Nolo backgrounder], a trademark is not to be denied based on its nature unless it “[c]onsists of … matter which may disparage … persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.” Tam is challenging the Lanham Act’s disparagement clause on the First Amendment [LII backgrounder] free speech grounds.
In Ziglar v. Abbasi, Ashcroft v. Abbasi and Hasty v. Abbasi [SCOTUSblog materials], the court heard arguments [transcript, PDF] on whether government officials can be sued in their individual capacity for potential constitutional violations committed following a national security emergency. These consolidated cases seek to hold individual officials responsible for detention of Muslim detainees following the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. The Supreme Court heard argument on a similar case in 2009, in Ashcroft v. Iqbal [JURIST report], where the justices ruled that another Muslim detainee, Javaid Iqbal, was required to plead sufficient facts in his complaint to demonstrate that the officials sued had implemented the discriminatory policy.
