U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court Limits Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that parties to an arbitration agreement may not agree to broader court review than allowed by federal law, SCOTUSblog reports. The case involved a lease dispute between toymaker Mattel Inc. and the owner of a polluted factory site. The two parties had provided in…

Mar 25, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rebuffs Bush Bid to Enforce International Court Order

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled President Bush didn’t have the authority to order Texas courts to carry out an international court decision. The 6-3 ruling amounts to “a sweeping rejection of claims of power in the presidency,” SCOTUSblog reports. Today’s majority opinion by Chief Justice John G. Roberts…

Mar 25, 2008 2:45 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Consider ‘Consent-Once Removed’ and a Possible ‘Failed Experiment’

The warrantless search case accepted yesterday by the U.S. Supreme Court involves difficult questions of constitutional law and immunity for government officials. One constitutional question in Pearson v. Callahan involves what is known as the consent-once-removed exception to the Fourth Amendment. The theory holds that a suspect who allows an…

Mar 25, 2008 1:19 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Consider Right to Self-Representation

In oral arguments tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider when a judge can refuse a defendant’s request to represent himself at trial. Ahmad Edwards is seeking to overturn his conviction for attempted murder and other charges on the ground that he should have been allowed to represent himself, Gannett…

Mar 25, 2008 12:20 PM CDT

One Lawyer’s Triple Play: Work on Three Briefs, All in Cases Argued Yesterday

U.S. Supreme Court specialist Thomas Goldstein has another feather in his cap. The lawyer from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld worked on briefs in all three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday in an unusual three-argument day, reports the BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. The cases were…

Mar 25, 2008 11:12 AM CDT

Whipped Cream and Money: Fox Fights FCC Indecency Fine

In the latest signpost pointing toward a potential loosening-up of federal restrictions on broadcast content, the Fox Television network is fighting a $91,000 FCC indecency fine over a 2003 reality program featuring strippers and whipped cream that contestants licked off of digitally obscured body parts. The Federal Communications Commission decision…

Mar 24, 2008 7:37 PM CDT

ABA President Expresses ‘Grave Concerns’ About Guantanamo Trials

ABA President William H. Neukom is expressing “grave concerns” about coerced evidence, restrictions on lawyers and other aspects of the Guantanamo trial process. In an op-ed released today, Neukom says American lawyers are “deeply troubled” by six Guantanamo death penalty cases involving alleged plotters in the Sept. 11 attacks. The…

Mar 24, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

Supreme Court Turns Down Inmate Abortion Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to decide whether an Arizona sheriff may refuse to provide transportation to inmates who want abortions. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he adopted the policy to carry out state laws barring the use of taxpayer money for abortions. He had refused to provide…

Mar 24, 2008 4:26 PM CDT

Supreme Court Declines AARP’s Appeal in Health Benefits Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to a federal policy that makes it easier for companies to pay lower health benefits to retired workers when they turn 65. A rule adopted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in effect allows companies to reduce health benefits when…

Mar 24, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

Supreme Court Asks for Briefs on Overruling Saucier Immunity Decision

In a case accepted for review today, the U.S. Supreme Court has asked lawyers to address whether the justices should overrule a 2001 decision involving government officials’ qualified immunity from lawsuits. The appeal accepted for review, Pearson v. Callahan, asks whether police officers are immune from liability for entering a…

Mar 24, 2008 3:37 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Involving Anti-Clinton Movie

The U.S. Supreme Court has summarily rejected an appeal by a group that wants to buy ads promoting an anti-Hillary Clinton movie without complying with campaign finance laws. The decision lets stand a ruling by a federal district court that requires the group, Citizens United, to attach a disclaimer and…

Mar 24, 2008 2:51 PM CDT

Justice Thomas Illustrates His Constitutional Philosophy With a Coat Hanger

Justice Clarence Thomas doesn’t believe it’s his job to compensate for years of misinterpretation by reinterpreting the Constitution in a distorted way. He illustrated with a coat hanger in an interview with two former Justice Department officials who wrote a commentary for the Wall Street Journal. Thomas bent the coat…

Mar 24, 2008 12:36 PM CDT

Sperm Donor Who Claims Parental Rights Seeks Cert

A sperm donor who lost his bid for parental rights is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his appeal. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled against Daryl Hendrix in a 4-2 opinion released in October, the Associated Press reports. The court upheld a Kansas law that says sperm donors have…

Mar 21, 2008 2:30 PM CDT

Legal Thriller Author Bashes Judicial Elections, to Chagrin of Newspaper

An editorial writer at the Wall Street Journal is taking legal thriller writer John Grisham to task for supporting merit selection of judges over judicial elections. Grisham backs merit selection of judges, as do retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and the American Bar Association (PDF). The method,…

Mar 20, 2008 1:02 PM CDT

Scalia Uses Oscar the Grouch Analogy to Support Political Party Rights

Justice Antonin Scalia showed his familiarity with Oscar the Grouch in a dissenting opinion on Tuesday that supported the right of political parties to affiliate with candidates of their choosing. Tony Mauro of Legal Times did a database check and found Scalia’s mention of the Sesame Street character was the…

Mar 20, 2008 12:31 PM CDT