Barr’s Testimony Is the Latest Example of the Trump Administration’s War on Congressional Oversight

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 Attorney General William Barr’s appearance last week before the House Judiciary Committee. Sarat argues that Barr’s testimony exemplifies the Trump administration’s defiance of the constitutional principle of congressional oversight.

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State v. Nye

Citation: 136 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 48

Opinion Date: July 30, 2020

Judge: James W. Hardesty

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court granting Defendant's motion to suppress drugs and drug paraphernalia police discovered while searching her backpack, holding that the district court properly determined that the search of Defendant's backpack was beyond the scope of a permissible search incident to arrest. After officers arrested Defendant, they placed her inside a patrol car, placed her backpack in the trunk of the patrol car, and transported her to jail. Thereafter, the officers searched Defendant's backpack. On appeal, the State argued that the contraband was discovered in a lawful search incident to arrest or, alternatively, would have been inevitably discovered in a lawful inventory of the backpack's contents. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding (1) the search incident to arrest was invalid; and (2) because the evidence would not have been discovered through a lawful inventory search, the evidence was not admissible under the inevitable-discovery doctrine.

Taylor v. Colon

Citation: 136 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 50

Opinion Date: July 30, 2020

Judge: Stiglich

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Personal Injury

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Appellants' anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss, holding that Nevada's anti-SLAPP statutes do not violate the constitutional right to a jury trial and that the communication at issue in this case was made in good faith. At issue was a presentation that James Taylor, as Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Division of Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB), gave at the Global Gaming Expo organized by American Gaming Association (AGA). During a section of the presentation on the use of cheating devices, Taylor presented a video clip depicting an individual playing blackjack. Nicholas Colon, the individual depicted in the video clip, sued Taylor, GCB, and AGA for defamation, claiming that the video clip was presented untruthfully as an alleged example of cheating. Defendants filed an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss, arguing that Taylor's presentation was a good faith statement made in direct connection with a matter of public concern in a public forum. The district court denied the anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) Nevada's anti-SLAPP statutes do not violate Colon's constitutional right to a jury trial; and (2) Defendants demonstrated that Taylor's presentation was made in good faith.

Yount v. Criswell Radovan, LLC

Citation: 136 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 47

Opinion Date: July 30, 2020

Judge: Silver

Areas of Law: Contracts, Real Estate & Property Law, Securities Law

In this case arising from a failed attempt to restore and reopen the historic Cal Neva Lodge, the Supreme Court affirmed the district court's decision to deny relief on the claims brought by Plaintiff, an investor, against the developers and others involved in setting up Plaintiff's investment on the project, but reversed the damages award for Defendants, holding that the record did not support upholding the damages award. Plaintiff sued Defendants for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligence, conversion, and securities fraud. After a bench trial, the trial judge ordered judgment in favor of Defendants and sua sponte awarded Defendants damages, along with attorney fees and costs. The Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part, holding (1) the district court erred in awarding damages to Defendants in the absence of an express or implied counterclaim; and (2) the record supported the district court's denial of relief on Plaintiff's claims.

Cannon Cochran Management Services, Inc. v. Figueroa

Citation: 136 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 51

Opinion Date: July 30, 2020

Judge: Mark Gibbons

Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law, Personal Injury

In this appeal regarding the scope of the law-enforcement exception to the "going and coming rule" in workers' compensation matters the Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court reversing the decision of the appeals officer, holding that the appeals officer's decision was arbitrary and capricious in light of the totality of the circumstances surrounding the officer's accident. Plaintiff, a police officer, was struck by another vehicle during his drive home from work. Plaintiff filed a workers' compensation claim for the injuries he sustained in the accident. His claim was denied. On appeal, the appeals officer also denied the claim, concluding that Plaintiff's injury did not arise out of and in the course and scope of his employment. The district court granted Plaintiff's petition for judicial review and concluded that Plaintiff's accident indeed arose out of and in the course of his employment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) a court must look to the totality of the circumstances on a case-by-case basis in determining whether the law-enforcement exception to the going and coming rule applies; and (2) Plaintiff qualified for the law-enforcement exception under the totality of the circumstances test.

Clark County v. Eliason

Citation: 136 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 49

Opinion Date: July 30, 2020

Judge: Silver

Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law

The Supreme Court held that Nev. Rev. Stat. 258.007 does not give the Clark County Board of Commissioners (Board) power to remove a constable from office or necessitate quo warranto proceedings because the statute works an automatic forfeiture of office if the constable fails to become certified as a category II peace officer. Section 258.007 requires a constable to become certified as a category II peace officer within a certain amount of time or forfeit the office. The United States District Court for the District of Nevada certified a question to the Supreme Court, asking whether the statute gives the Board the power to remove a constable from office or whether a constable can be removed only through a quo warranto action. The Supreme Court answered the first part of the certified question in the negative, which necessarily resolved the second part of the certified question, holding that the Board has neither the authority nor the need to declare a forfeiture because that forfeiture occurs automatically upon the constable's failure timely to certify as a category II peace officer.

Schueler v. Ad Art, Inc.

Citation: 136 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 52

Opinion Date: July 30, 2020

Judge: Bulla

Areas of Law: Personal Injury, Products Liability

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court concluding that a large MGM Grand sign located on top of a 150-foot tall steel pylon was not a product within the contemplation of the doctrine of strict products liability, holding that the MGM sign was a product for purposes of strict liability. Plaintiff was seriously injured while servicing the MGM sign. Plaintiff brought this suit alleging that Defendant designed, manufactured, and sold the allegedly defective sign to MGM, and therefore, Defendant should be strictly liable for his injuries. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendant, concluding that the sign was not a product that was subject to the doctrine of strict liability. The Supreme Court reversed after applying the principles set forth in section 402A of the Second Restatement of Torts and relevant jurisprudence, holding that the MGM pylon sign was a product within the meaning of strict products liability.