On June 1, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) issued rulings in five cases argued during its October 2019-2020 term:

• Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment LLC (Consolidated with Aurelius Investment v. Puerto Rico, Official Committee of Debtors v. Aurelius Investment, United States v. Aurelius Investment, and UTIER v. Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico) 
• Banister v. Davis
• Thole v. U.S. Bank
• GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA LLC 
• Nasrallah v. Barr

• The case: In 2016, Congress enacted the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. The act created the Financial Oversight and Management Board and authorized the board to begin debt adjustment proceedings on behalf of the Puerto Rico government. After the board began proceedings in 2017, Aurelius Investment LLC, (“Aurelius”) and the Unión de Trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica y Riego (“UTIER”) challenged the board’s authority in federal district court, arguing the board members’ appointment violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The district court ruled against Aurelius and UTIER. On appeal, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court in part, holding the board members “must be, and were not, appointed in compliance with the Appointments Clause.”
• The issue: Whether the Appointments Clause governs the appointment of members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico.
• The outcome: The court ruled 9-0 that the Appointments Clause governed the appointment of members of the FOMB but that the method of appointment used did not violate its requirements.

• The case: In 2004, a jury convicted Gregory Banister of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. After several appeals, Banister filed a petition under Rule 59(e) of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, asking the Northern District of Texas to revisit an earlier judgment. The district court denied the petition. On appeal, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals also denied Banister’s petition for a certificate of appealability on the grounds the petition was untimely based on Gonzalez v. Crosby. Banister appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing there was a circuit split on extending the Gonzalez decision to include Rule 59(e) motions.
• The issue: Whether and under what circumstances a timely Rule 59(e) motion should be recharacterized as a second or successive habeas petition under Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524 (2005).
• The outcome: The court reversed and remanded the judgment of the 5th Circuit in a 7-2 vote, holding that because a Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend a habeas court’s judgment is not a second or successive habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. §2244(b), Banister’s appeal was timely.

• The case: James Thole and Sherry Smith sued U.S. Bank, N.A. over U.S. Bank’s management of a defined benefit pension plan. Thole and Smith alleged the bank violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and engaged in prohibited transactions, causing the plan to become underfunded. U.S. Bank sought to dismiss the case, arguing the plaintiffs did not have the legal right to sue and the statute of limitations had run out on the ERISA claims. The district court dismissed in part and granted in part U.S. Bank’s motion. In 2014, the plan became overfunded. The district court dismissed the case as moot. Thole and Smith appealed to the 8th Circuit, which affirmed the district court’s ruling. The plaintiffs then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, arguing the 8th Circuit’s ruling conflicted with other circuit court decisions.
• The issues:
  • May an ERISA plan participant or beneficiary seek injunctive relief against fiduciary misconduct under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3) without demonstrating individual financial loss or the imminent risk thereof?
  • May an ERISA plan participant or beneficiary seek restoration of plan losses caused by fiduciary breach under 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(2) without demonstrating individual financial loss or the imminent risk thereof?
  • Whether petitioners have demonstrated Article III standing.
• The outcome: The court affirmed the 8th Circuit’s decision in a 5-4 ruling, holding the plaintiffs did not have standing and would still receive the same amount of monthly benefits regardless of the case’s outcome.

• The case: Outokumpu Stainless USA LLC (“Outokumpu”) contracted with Fives St. Corp. (“Fives”) to provide equipment for its steel plant in Alabama. Fives subcontracted with GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS (“GE Energy”), a foreign corporation, to supply the equipment. The contracts between Outokumpu and Fives and between Fives and GE Energy contained arbitration clauses. The equipment was installed between 2011 and 2012 but failed by 2015. Outokumpu sued GE Energy in Alabama state court. The case was moved to federal district court, which dismissed the case and compelled Outokumpu to undertake arbitration proceedings. On appeal, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision to compel arbitration. GE Energy appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for review, arguing the 11th Circuit’s decision underlined a 2-to-2 circuit court split.
• The issue: Whether the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards permits a non-signatory to an arbitration agreement to compel arbitration based on the doctrine of equitable estoppel.
• The outcome: The court reversed the decision of the 11th Circuit in a unanimous ruling, holding the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards does not conflict with doctrines in state law that allow the enforcement of arbitration agreements by non-signatories to those agreements.

• The case: Nidal Khalid Nasrallah, a citizen and native of Lebanon, pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving stolen property in interstate commerce in the United States. An immigration judge determined that one of Nasrallah’s convictions involved moral turpitude and constituted a particularly serious crime, but granted Nasrallah protection from removal from the country under the Convention Against Torture. The case was appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which affirmed in part and reversed in part the immigration judge’s decision and ordered Nasrallah’s removal. Nasrallah petitioned the 11th Circuit for review. The 11th Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part the petition.
• The issue: “Whether, notwithstanding Section 1252(a)(2)(C), the courts of appeals possess jurisdiction to review factual findings underlying denials of withholding (and deferral) of removal relief.”
• The outcome: The court reversed the 11th Circuit’s judgment in a 7-2 vote, holding that U.S. Code Sections 1252(a)(2)(C) and (D) do not prevent judicial review of a noncitizen’s factual challenges to a denial of relief order under the international Convention Against Torture.

As of June 1, 2020, the court had issued decisions in 38 cases this term. Between 2007 and 2018, SCOTUS released opinions in 924 cases, averaging between 70 and 90 cases per year. The court agreed to hear 74 cases during its 2019-2020 term.