They Are Still Teachers

LESLIE C. GRIFFIN

UNLV Boyd School of Law professor Leslie C. Griffin comments on the oral argument the U.S. Supreme Court heard on Monday in the combined cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel, which bring before the Court the question of the ministerial exception. Griffin explains that the ministerial exception is an affirmative defense that keeps the facts of a case from ever going to a judge or a jury and argues that a broad construction of the exception—as advocated by the religious employers in those cases—would be devastating to the careers of thousands of Americans teaching our children and caring for our sick in religious organizations across the country.

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When the Paranoid President Meets the Supreme Court

AUSTIN SARAT

Austin Sarat—Associate Provost, Associate Dean of the Faculty, and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College—comments on Tuesday’s oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. Vance, which raises the question of whether the President should be able to shield his tax and financial records from a congressional subpoena. Sarat urges that the Court see through the grandiosity and paranoia of the President’s legal claims, arguing that the future of a government of limited powers and the rule of law hangs in the balance.

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Linking COVID-19 Relief for State Governments to Abandonment of “Sanctuary” Policies? The Uncharted Territory of Conditional Spending

VIKRAM DAVID AMAR, JASON MAZZONE

Illinois Law dean Vikram David Amar and professor Jason Mazzone assess President Trump’s suggestion that federal aid to state and local governments might be conditioned on their willingness to abandon their “sanctuary” policies and assist the federal government in immigration enforcement. Although Amar and Mazzone expect those federal spending conditions not to be realized, they use the President’s comment to list and describe some unanswered fundamental constitutional questions in the conditional spending arena.

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CBX Resources, LLC v. ACE American Insurance Co.

Docket: 18-50740

Opinion Date: May 12, 2020

Judge: Costa

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure

After losing on its claim for a declaratory judgment that ACE had a duty to defend, CBX dismissed its Texas Insurance Code claims without prejudice. Because those statutory claims were not resolved on the merits, CBX is entitled to bring a later suit on the same cause of action. The Fifth Circuit held that, at this point in the litigation, there is not a final appealable judgment. The court explained that appellate jurisdiction existed in Williams v. Taylor Seidenbach, Inc., --- F.3d ---, 2020 WL 2111307, because the appellant had obtained a Rule 54(b) partial summary judgment on the claims it sought to appeal. However, CBX has not asked for such a partial summary judgment, which is a discretionary matter for the district court. Therefore, the court held that Williams does not free CBX from the finality trap and rejected CBX's arguments to the contrary. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's dismissal based on lack of jurisdiction.

Gruver v. Louisiana Board of Supervisors

Docket: 19-30670

Opinion Date: May 12, 2020

Judge: Costa

Areas of Law: Education Law

This case arose from the tragic death of Maxwell Gruver after a fraternity hazing event at Louisiana State University (LSU). Maxwell's parents filed suit against LSU for violations of Title IX and state law, alleging that the university discriminated against male students by policing hazing in fraternities more leniently than hazing in sororities. In Pederson v. La. State Univ., 213 F.3d 858, 876 (5th Cir. 2000), the Fifth Circuit held that state recipients of Title IX funding waive their Eleventh Amendment immunity against suits alleging sex discrimination. The court held that the Supreme Court's opinion in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (2012), does not constitute a change in law when it comes to the analysis that Pederson and other cases used in finding waivers of sovereign immunity from states' acceptance of federal funds. Therefore, the court held that LSU has waived Eleventh Amendment immunity by accepting federal funds and affirmed the district court's denial of the university's motion to dismiss.

Munoz-Granados v. Barr

Docket: 19-60758

Opinion Date: May 12, 2020

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Immigration Law

The Fifth Circuit denied a petition for review of the BIA's dismissal of petitioner's appeal from the IJ's order denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court held that substantial evidence supported the BIA's asylum determination, because petitioner failed to show past persecution, a well-founded fear of future persecution, and that it would be unreasonable for him to relocate to another part of Mexico, away from his father's extortionists. Likewise, petitioner failed to carry his burden for withholding of removal. Finally, substantial evidence supported the BIA's denial of CAT protection, because petitioner failed to show that the acts and threats rose to the level of persecution and that the drug cartel—to the extent they torture others in Mexico—do so with the acquiescence of public officials. The court also held that the BIA did not err in determining that the Notice of Hearing triggered the stop-time rule. Furthermore, even if the BIA engaged in impermissible factfinding by adjudicating his request for voluntary departure, rather than remanding the matter to the IJ, the error was harmless.