U.S. Supreme Court

Death Penalty Opponents See Litigation Roadmap in Lethal Injection Decision

Lawyers for death row inmates will try to show that the lethal injection procedures in their states are different from Kentucky’s after yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the state’s three-drug execution cocktail. The plurality opinion by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said states with execution methods “substantially similar”…

Apr 17, 2008 10:48 AM CDT

Stevens Opposes ‘Pointless’ Death Penalty

For 30 years Justice John Paul Stevens has been a key vote upholding the death penalty. But now he has declared his is in opposition to capital punishment and that he thinks it’s unconstitutional, the Associated Press reports. “I have relied on my own experience in reaching the conclusion that…

Apr 16, 2008 10:36 PM CDT

Jailhouse Lawyer Loses Sentencing Case in Supreme Court

The jailhouse lawyer who persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a fellow inmate’s challenge to his cocaine sentence has lost the battle. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the sentencing appeal based on a cert petition filed by former paralegal Michael Ray, who is in prison in connection…

Apr 16, 2008 3:56 PM CDT

Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the most common lethal injection procedure does not violate the Constitution. The splintered ruling clears the way for executions to resume across the country, SCOTUSblog reports. The decision is Baze v. Rees (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog). “Petitioners have not carried their burden…

Apr 16, 2008 2:34 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules in Two Tax Cases

Upated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in two tax cases, favoring a company that challenged a tax by Illinois and ruling against a taxpayer who sued for refund of an invalid tax. In MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue, the Supreme Court vacated an Illinois ruling that held…

Apr 15, 2008 2:32 PM CDT

Why Gibson Dunn Keeps Winning in the Supreme Court

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has achieved an impressive record in the past three terms at the U.S. Supreme Court. It has won eight out of 11 cases. The reasons for that record include the firm’s impressive appellate litigators, its loose organizational structure and the strength of its cases, the National…

Apr 15, 2008 11:59 AM CDT

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Case of Boy Serving 30-Year Sentence

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to accept an appeal that contends a 30-year sentence given to a 12-year-old boy amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Christopher Pittman was convicted of killing his grandparents as they were sleeping. The South Carolina judge who sentenced him was barred by law from…

Apr 14, 2008 5:51 PM CDT

How Supreme Court Reporting Is Changing With Technology

Technology is forcing U.S. Supreme Court journalists to rethink the way they do their jobs. Not so long ago, Slate columnist Dahlia Lithwick wrote, most Supreme Court reporters “ambled out of oral arguments, enjoyed a light snack and a beverage, and then filed their stories for publication in the next…

Apr 14, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide EPA Authority to Weigh Costs of Regs

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Environmental Protection Agency may weigh costs and benefits when deciding how power plants should retrofit water intake systems to protect fish. The cert petitions by Entergy Corp. and other utilities ask the court to reverse a federal appeals court…

Apr 14, 2008 3:02 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Weigh Immunity for Supervising Prosecutors

Today the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether supervising prosecutors can be sued for management errors that result in wrongful convictions, SCOTUSblog reports. The suit before the court claims the Los Angeles district attorney failed to set up a system to make prosecutors aware of the reliability of jailhouse…

Apr 14, 2008 2:35 PM CDT

Justices Tap Former Clerks as Appointed Counsel, Boosting Their Careers

Two former U.S. Supreme Court law clerks will be arguing sentencing cases before the high court on Tuesday. Both lawyers agreed to take the cases for free, but that doesn’t mean their appointments are without benefit, Legal Times reports. This “little-known and rarely available pathway” helped jump-start the Supreme Court…

Apr 14, 2008 2:00 PM CDT

Higher-Tech Delivery Led to Suspect Accused of Threatening Justice Thomas

The FBI says it was able to trace the source of threats to Justice Clarence Thomas and several black celebrities after the writer apparently switched to e-mail. David Tuason, 46, was arrested last week in Ohio and charged with sending two threatening e-mails and six letters. Prosecutors said Tuason targeted…

Apr 14, 2008 11:18 AM CDT

Scalia ‘Disturbed’ About Church-State Separation ‘Lie’

Justice Antonin Scalia is nothing if not quotable. In his latest speech yesterday, he confessed to being disturbed about claims the Constitution erects a strict wall of separation between church and state. Scalia pointed out that legislative sessions begin with a prayer and American currency contains the phrase “In God…

Apr 11, 2008 12:15 PM CDT

Nebraska AG to Seek Cert on Constitutionality of Electrocution

Nebraska’s attorney general says he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate electrocutions in the state. Attorney General Jon Bruning said yesterday he will seek cert because Nebraskans support the death penalty, the Associated Press reports. “We’ll do everything possible to ensure the sentences of the state’s worst murderers…

Apr 10, 2008 12:50 PM CDT

Scalia Continues Media Blitz, Tells Students ‘I am not a Moralist-in-Chief’

Once media-shy Justice Antonin Scalia continued his media blitz in a televised question-and-answer session yesterday with students from a Northern Virginia high school. Scalia told students that he disagrees with the view that the Constitution is a living document. Instead he tries to determine what the document meant when it…

Apr 10, 2008 11:19 AM CDT