Case at a Glance

A critical element of the relief afforded debtors in bankruptcy is the discharge, which generally bars efforts to collect the debtor's past debts. However, the Bankruptcy Code provides for denying a discharge to debtors who have engaged in certain misconduct, including transferring assets with the intent to defraud creditors. Bankruptcy Rule 4004 limits the time for filing complaints objecting to discharge. If an objection is untimely under the Rule but the debtor fails promptly to raise that problem, is the tardiness waived? Alternatively, is the filing deadline "jurisdictional," in the sense that the bankruptcy court lacks the power to excuse violations?

• Previewed by John P. Hennigan, Jr., a professor of law at St. John's University School of Law in Jamaica, N.Y.

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Case at a Glance

Joseph Pringle was a passenger in a car containing concealed drugs and suspected drug money. When Pringle, another passenger, and the driver of the car all failed to identify the owner of the contraband to a police officer, they were each arrested for possession of the drugs. Now the Supreme Court must decide whether a passenger's mere presence in a car containing concealed drugs is sufficient to justify his arrest for drug possession.Joseph Pringle was a passenger in a car containing concealed drugs and suspected drug money. When Pringle, another passenger, and the driver of the car all failed to identify the owner of the contraband to a police officer, they were each arrested for possession of the drugs. Now the Supreme Court must decide whether a passenger's mere presence in a car containing concealed drugs is sufficient to justify his arrest for drug possession.

• Previewed by Michael Kaye, a professor of law at the Washburn University of Topeka Law School in Topeka, Kansas.

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Case at a Glance

This case examines a law enforcement officer's failure to read a search warrant prior to its execution in order to confirm that it adequately described the place to be searched and the items to be seized. It asks whether the officer is entitled to qualified immunity in light of that failure and specifically asks whether qualified immunity protects a federal agent who executes a facially deficient warrant issued based on a particularized (but unincorporated) warrant application and affidavit.

• Previewed by Yvonne Briley-Wilson, an assistant professor at the Rochester/Oakland University Campus of Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Rochester, Michigan.

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Case at a Glance

The Securities Act of 1933 defines the term "security" very broadly to include a variety of instruments, including "investment contracts," a catch-all category that captures a broad spectrum of investment arrangements. In this case the Supreme Court will decide whether an investment opportunity that promises a fixed rather than variable return to investors is an "investment contract" and thus a "security" subject to the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

• Previewed by Brett G. Scharffs, a professor of law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

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Case at a Glance

Police making a custodial arrest may always search the person arrested and the area within his immediate control. In New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981), the Court declared that when the arrestee was or had recently been in a vehicle, the area within the arrestee's control included the entire passenger compartment of the vehicle. This case allows the Court to apply Belton to a situation in which the arrestee left the vehicle before police sought to question or arrest him.

• Previewed by Alan Raphael, an associate professor of law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

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Case at a Glance

Police in Illinois set up a highway checkpoint, attempting to find information about a fatal accident which occurred one week earlier. Defendant entered the checkpoint, and police noticed the smell of alcohol and slurred speech. He then was convicted of drunk driving. Is this type of roadblock reasonable under the Fourth Amendment (permitting the arrest and conviction) or not (invalidating the arrest)?

• Previewed by William P. Weiner, the associate dean for International, Graduate, and Extended Programs at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

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Case at a Glance

Under Section 330(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code, as originally enacted, "the court may award to a trustee, to an examiner, to a professional person employed under section 327 or 1103 of this title, or to the debtor's attorney—(1) reasonable compensation for actual, necessary services rendered by such trustee, examiner, professional person, or attorney ..." (emphasis added). In 1994, Congress deleted the first emphasized phrase while retaining the second. Courts have disagreed over whether the amended statute authorizes fee awards to a debtor's attorney.

• Previewed by John P. Hennigan, Jr., a professor of law at St. John's University School of Law in Jamaica, N.Y.

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Case at a Glance

The Supreme Court is asked to reconsider rulings that govern the applicability of the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause to the admission of hearsay evidence in a criminal trial. In this case, the Court is being asked to abandon the framework of Ohio v. Roberts for deciding such questions. If the Court were to retain that decision, it must decide whether the hearsay statement admitted in this case against the defendant was sufficiently reliable to satisfy the Confrontation Clause.

• Previewed by Alan Raphael, an associate professor of law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

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Case at a Glance

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees 40 years of age and older. The typical case involves an older worker alleging he or she has been treated worse than a substantially younger employee. In this case, younger employees in the protected class, who lost their retirement benefits as a result of a new collective bargaining agreement allege that their employer violated the ADEA by treating them worse than older workers in the protected class.

• Previewed by David L. Hudson, Jr., a Tennessee-based attorney who writes regularly on employment law issues.

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Case at a Glance

The Warsaw Convention restricts an airline's liability to passengers injured during international flights to $75,000, when the injury is caused by an "accident." In this case, the Ninth Circuit has defined "accident" to include a flight attendant's repeated failure to respond to an asthmatic passenger's request to move away from the plane's smoking section. The question for the Court is whether the aggravation of the passenger's pre-existing condition properly comes under the heading of an accident.

• Previewed by Robert D. Yates, a former managing editor of the ABA Journal and an Evanston, Ill., free-lance writer and editor specializing in legal affairs and appellate litigation.

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