May 13, 2019
Apple, Inc. v. Pepper (17-204)
Respondents, who purchased apps for their iPhones though Apple’s App Store, were direct purchasers from Apple under Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U. S. 720, and may sue Apple for allegedly monopolizing the retail market for the sale of iPhone apps.
Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt (18-315)
The limitations period in 31 U. S. C. §3731(b)(2)—which provides that a False Claims Act action must be brought within 3 years after the “the official of the United States charged with responsibility to act in the circumstances” knew or should have known the relevant facts, but not more than 10 years after the violation—applies in a qui tam suit in which the Federal Government has declined to intervene; the relator in a nonintervened suit is not “the official of the United States” whose knowledge triggers §3731(b)(2)’s limitations period.
Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt (17-1299)
Nevada v. Hall, 440 U. S. 410, is overruled; States retain their sovereign immunity from private suits brought in courts of other States.
April 29, 2019
Thacker v. TVA (17-1201)
Title 16 U. S. C. §831c(b), which serves to waive the Tennessee Valley Authority’s sovereign immunity from suit, is not subject to a discretionary function exception of the kind in the Federal Tort Claims Act.