Pending Cases
- Joseph Kennedy was a 50 year old football coach at a public high school outside of Seattle. He routinely conducted a brief prayer session on the yard line after each game. The local Board instructed him to refrain from this practice. He refused and sued. The issue of whether his 1st Amendment right was violated is before the Court.
- Terence Tekoh, a hospital attendant, was accused of sexually molesting a patient. There is no debate that when he was arrested and ultimately signed a confession that he had not been given his “Miranda” rights. His criminal trial allowed the statement into evidence, yet he was acquitted. He then sued the deputy police officer alleging that his constitutional rights had been violated. The Court will consider the history of the Miranda decision and whether this creates a “constitutional right”.
- Barry Romeril is a former Xerox executive against whom the SEC brought charges that he had engaged in a scheme designed to mislead investors. He settled the case, paid more than $5 million, without admitting or denying the allegations. As is a typical term of such a settlement, he also agreed to stay forever quiet about any defects in the case made against him. Some years later, he sued to be released from this covenant. The issue is a 1ST Amendment right of freedom of speech and whether he can and did freely contract out of this right. To date he has lost his argument.