Eighth Amendment

ABA urges top state court to consider death penalty policy, constitutional challenges in drug records case

The ABA filed an amicus brief with the Idaho Supreme Court on Friday that urges justices to consider the association’s position on issues related to public records about the lethal injection drugs used in death penalty cases.

Mar 2, 2020 10:51 AM CST

Oklahoma will resume executions after 5-year moratorium

Oklahoma plans to resume lethal injections following a five-year moratorium spurred by botched executions.

Feb 14, 2020 11:46 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Some of Justice Scalia’s papers are now public; House lifts ERA deadline

Some of Justice Scalia’s papers are now publicly available

The legal and academic papers of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia are now available for public viewing, at…

Feb 13, 2020 3:27 PM CST

State supreme court affirms 12-year sentence for inmate’s cellphone possession

The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld the 12-year sentence of a man convicted for having a cellphone in jail.

Jan 14, 2020 3:11 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Retired lawyer liable for son’s death; SCOTUS rejects homelessness case

93-year-old retired lawyer is found liable for son’s shooting death

On Friday, jurors in San Diego found a 93-year-old retired lawyer liable for $9.5 million in damages for killing his…

Dec 16, 2019 4:42 PM CST

Chemerinsky: Weighty matters load the Supreme Court’s next term

The U.S. Supreme Court justices return from their summer recess Monday to a calendar filled with potential blockbuster cases. Typically, about half the docket is set before the justices’ recess at the end of June, with the remaining cases taken between the beginning of October and the middle of January. But just based on what already is on the docket, this term could be filled with cases of great significance.

Oct 3, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Client convicted of tax attorney’s murder; 4th Circuit says Sessions was wrong

Client convicted of murdering his tax attorney

A former city council member in Cedar Lake, Indiana, was convicted of murder Wednesday for the fatal shooting of his tax attorney. Jurors…

Aug 29, 2019 4:38 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Woman fined $100K for dirty pool and tall grass; county bar sued for pregnancy bias

• A Florida woman who was fined $100,000 for a dirty pool and overgrown grass is facing a lawsuit by the city of Dunedin. The woman, Kristi Allen, had moved…

Aug 9, 2019 4:27 PM CDT

Habitual drunkard law is struck down by full appeals court in closely divided opinion

An en banc appeals court has struck down Virginia’s habitual drunkard law in a closely divided opinion.

The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law is…

Jul 17, 2019 4:10 PM CDT

ABA supports use of traditional insanity defense in death-row inmate’s petition

In an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, the ABA said it supports Kansas death-row inmate James Kraig Kahler’s petition to reverse the Kansas Supreme Court…

Jun 10, 2019 12:44 PM CDT

Alabama inmate is executed after a divided Supreme Court denies stay

An Alabama inmate who sought to die by nitrogen hypoxia was executed by lethal injection Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court once again rejected a stay request.

May 31, 2019 9:15 AM CDT

Solitary confinement conditions violated death-row inmates’ Eighth Amendment rights, 4th Circuit rules

Updated: A federal appeals court has ruled that the conditions of death-row solitary confinement that once existed in Virginia prisons violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

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May 6, 2019 11:00 AM CDT

Federal judge sides with female inmates who filed class action suit over widespread sleep deprivation

No more 2:30 a.m. pill calls, 4 a.m. breakfasts or noisy overnight maintenance in jails in one San Francisco Bay Area county, a federal judge ruled Monday.

In a preliminary…

Apr 24, 2019 12:32 PM CDT

Full 9th Circuit won’t review decision barring prosecution of homeless for sleeping on public property

A federal appeals court has left undisturbed a decision holding that homeless people can’t be prosecuted for sleeping on public property unless alternative shelter is available.

Apr 5, 2019 9:18 AM CDT

Alabama men’s prisons are so unsafe they likely violate the Eighth Amendment, DOJ says

Understaffed and overcrowded men’s prisons in Alabama fail to protect prisoners from prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse and violence and fail to provide safe and sanitary conditions, according to a Department of…

Apr 4, 2019 9:27 AM CDT