U.S. Supreme Court

O’Connor Decries Political Pressures on Judges

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has taken her quest for merit selection of state judges to the pages of Parade magazine. In an article headlined “How to Save Our Courts,” O’Connor said groups that spend big money in judicial elections distort the issues and leave the impression…

Feb 25, 2008 1:04 PM CST

Scalia Edges Out Roberts, Votes With Majority in Every Decision This Term

Justice Antonin Scalia is having a good year, while Justice Anthony M. Kennedy isn’t quite the influential swing voter he used to be. Those conclusions can be drawn from statistics released today (PDF) by SCOTUSblog. They show that Scalia is the only justice to vote with the majority in all…

Feb 22, 2008 7:34 PM CST

Riegel Will Affect Many—But Not All—Medical Device Suits

Lawyers representing plaintiffs in lawsuits alleging injuries for medical devices were bracing for waves of dismissal motions after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Wednesday. The court ruled in Riegel v. Medtronic that manufacturers of medical devices winning a rigorous pre-market approval from the Food and Drug Administration cannot be sued…

Feb 22, 2008 4:50 PM CST

Administration Pushes Pre-Emption Following High Court Victory

The Bush administration saw its stance on federal pre-emption validated in yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring lawsuits against the makers of preapproved medical devices. Now it will seek to expand the ruling in a new case relating to drug company liability. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday in Riegel…

Feb 21, 2008 3:38 PM CST

Court’s 401(k) Ruling Suggests a ‘Next Frontier’ of ERISA Litigation

Lawyers who defend pension plan administrators are buoyed by a concurrence by the chief justice in yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing lawsuits by individuals against their 401(k) plans. The plaintiff, James LaRue, claims administrators twice ignored instructions to move his money to a more lucrative fund, costing him $150,000.…

Feb 21, 2008 2:31 PM CST

Supreme Court Allows Lawsuit Alleging Mishandled 401(k)

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that an employee who says he lost $150,000 because of a mishandled 401(k) plan may sue the administrators for a breach of fiduciary duty, SCOTUSblog reports. The Associated Press reports that the decision “has implications for 50 million workers with $2.7 trillion invested…

Feb 20, 2008 4:52 PM CST

Supreme Court Gives Convicted Lawyer a Second Chance to Exclude Accuser’s Tape

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled its criminal procedure decisions can be applied retroactively under state laws or constitutions, even when federal courts follow a different standard, SCOTUSblog reports. The court ruled in the case of Stephen Danforth, a lawyer who was convicted of child molestation based partly on a…

Feb 20, 2008 4:24 PM CST

Court Finds Pre-Emption in Rulings Trio on Medical Devices, Tobacco Regs, Arbitration

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in three federal pre-emption cases, favoring federal laws over state regulation and common-law lawsuits, SCOTUSblog reports. In Riegel v. Medtronic, the court held that pre-market approval of medical devices by the Food and Drug Administration bars injury lawsuits by those who say they…

Feb 20, 2008 3:57 PM CST

Majority’s Lack of Enthusiasm for Exclusionary Rule Could Play Out in New Case

The U.S. Supreme Court may create another exception to the exclusionary rule when it decides a case accepted yesterday involving a man who was mistakenly arrested. “Justices on the current Supreme Court have made no secret of their desire to carve more exceptions out of the nearly 100-year-old exclusionary rule,”…

Feb 20, 2008 3:15 PM CST

High Court Considers Retaliation Cases, Two Days in a Row

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether Congress intended to protect federal workers from retaliation for making age discrimination complaints. Today it will take up a second case about the scope of retaliation protection in a post-Civil War law that bars discrimination in business dealings. Lawyer Joseph Guerra, who represents…

Feb 20, 2008 2:45 PM CST

Court Accepts ERISA Case Involving Pension Rights After Divorce

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide the validity of a divorcing spouse’s waiver of a right to the other’s pension benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, SCOTUSblog reports. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled (PDF) in the case, Kennedy v. Plan…

Feb 19, 2008 6:04 PM CST

Supreme Court to Hear Exclusionary Rule Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether evidence may be admitted at trial if it was obtained from an arrest based on mistaken information from police files. Police arrested Bennie Dean Herring under what they thought was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Their search found methamphetamine in…

Feb 19, 2008 5:33 PM CST

Labor Unions and Lawsuits Grab High Court’s Attention

The U.S. Supreme Court accepted two cases today that involve labor unions and lawsuits, SCOTUSblog reports. One case concerns the enforceability of a labor union contract with an employer that bars members from filing lawsuits over workplace discrimination. Another asks the court to clarify when unions can charge nonmembers for…

Feb 19, 2008 4:59 PM CST

Court Denies Cert in ACLU Wiretap Challenge

An American Civil Liberties Union challenge to the government’s warrantless wiretapping program has been stymied with the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to review the case. The court denied cert today, SCOTUSblog reports. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in July that the ACLU and other plaintiffs…

Feb 19, 2008 4:19 PM CST

Guild Says Scalia’s Torture Remarks Merit Future Recusal

The National Lawyers Guild has issued a press release calling on Justice Antonin Scalia to recuse himself in any cases concerning harsh interrogation techniques. The liberal group said recent remarks by Scalia in an interview with BBC Radio’s Law in Action about the constitutionality of torture indicate he has prejudged…

Feb 15, 2008 7:09 PM CST