Harlow v. Fitzgerald

Holding that public officials are entitled to a "qualified immunity" from "liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established . . . rights of which a reasonable person would have known"

Younger v. Harris

Holding that it was improper for the district court in that case to enjoin a state prosecution against Younger, in light of "the national policy forbidding federal courts to stay or enjoin pending state court proceedings except under special circumstances"

Quackenbush v. Allstate Ins. Co.

Holding that an abstention-based remand is not a remand for “lack of subject matter jurisdiction” for purposes of §§ 1447(c) and (d)

Ankenbrandt v. Richards

Holding that divorce, alimony, and child custody decrees fall under "domestic relations exception" to federal courts' subject matter jurisdiction

New Orleans Pub. Serv., Inc. v. New Orleans

Holding that Burford abstention is not appropriate where the plaintiff's claim "does not involve a state-law claim," and rejecting the Fifth Circuit's declaration that "`the absence of a state law claim [is] not fatal'" to the application of Burford abstention

Wyatt v. Cole

Holding that qualified immunity applies to claims under Section 1983

Richardson v. McKnight

Holding that prison guards employed by a private prison-management firm are not entitled to assert qualified immunity

Burford v. Sun Oil Co.

Holding that a federal court may abstain from exercising its equity jurisdiction where doing so would "be prejudicial to the public interest" or would "so clearly involve basic problems of [State] policy" (quoting United States ex rel. Greathouse v. Dern , 289 U.S. 352, 360, 53 S.Ct. 614, 77 L.Ed. 1250 (1933) )

Keele v. Wexler

Holding plaintiff had Article III standing where defendant tried to collect an illegal collection fee, even if plaintiff did not pay the fee

Hawthorne v. Mac Adjustment, Inc.

Holding the obligation of a tortfeasor to pay damages is not "debt" under the FDCPA because it is not a "consensual or contractual arrangement" but rather amounts to a "damage obligation thrust upon one as a result of no more than her own negligence"

Section 1692 - Congressional findings and declaration of purpose

Finding that abusive debt-collection practices lead to "personal bankruptcies," "marital instability," "loss of jobs," and "invasions of individual privacy"

Section 1692e - False or misleading representations

Prohibiting false representation of the "character, amount, or legal status of a debt"

Section 1692a - Definitions

Defining debt collector

Section 1692k - Civil liability

Holding debt collectors civilly liable for illicit debt collection practices

Section 1692g - Validation of debts

Setting forth requirements for disputing a debt

Section 1692f - Unfair practices

Providing a non-exhaustive list of conduct that is unfair or unconscionable

Section 476a - Making or drawing or uttering or delivering check, draft, or order knowing funds are not sufficient

Drawing checks for which there were insufficient funds

Section 1692n - Relation to State laws

Stating that the FDCPA "does not annul, alter, or affect ... the laws of any State with respect to debt collection practices, except to the extent that those laws are inconsistent with any provision of [the FDCPA], and then only to the extent of the inconsistency"

Section 1692p - Exception for certain bad check enforcement programs operated by private entities

Section 1001.60 - Diversion program for persons who write bad checks

Authorizing a judge to impose a collection fee only after conviction