CIVIL PROCEDURE, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, HABEAS CORPUS
Bowles v. Russell, No. 06-5306
The timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a jurisdictional requirement, and case law precedent setting forth the "unique circumstances" doctrine is overruled to the extent the cases purported to authorize an exception to a jurisdictional rule. In a habeas case in which a district court purported to extend petitioner's time for filing an appeal beyond the period allowed by statute, dismissal of petitioner's appeal for lack of jurisdiction is affirmed where petitioner's untimely notice, even though filed in reliance upon the district court's order, deprived the circuit court of jurisdiction.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, ELECTIONS, GOVERNMENT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Davenport v. Washington Educ. Ass'n, No. 05-1589
A state does not violate the First Amendment by requiring its public-sector unions to receive affirmative authorization from a non-member before spending that non-member's agency fees for election-related purposes. R
GOVERNMENT LAW, INTERNATIONAL LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE, TAX LAW
Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations v. City of New York, No. 06-134
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) does not immunize a foreign government from a law-suit to declare the validity of tax liens on property held by the sovereign for the purpose of housing its employees.