Supremacy Clause Challenge to Academic Travel Spending Restrictions, and

Faculty Senate of Fla. Int'l. Univ. v. Winn, No. 08-15647, involved a Supremacy Clause challenge to Florida's restriction on the use of state money for travel by state employees to countries that the federal government listed as "State Sponsors of Terrorism."  The court vacated partial summary judgment and a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs, holding that no federal law said that states could not differentiate among foreign nations when it came to spending for academic travel.

In US v. Rainer, No. 09-14014, the court affirmed defendant's sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that a conviction for violating Alabama's third-degree burglary statute, Ala. Code section 13A-7-7, is a "violent felony" for Armed Career Criminal Act purposes.

Related Resources

• Full Text of Faculty Senate of Fla. Int'l. Univ. v. Winn, No. 08-15647
• Full Text of US v. Rainer, No. 09-14014