U.S. Supreme Court

High Court Allows Expanded Arguments in Exxon Punitives Case

The U.S. Supreme Court is giving lawyers for both sides an extra 15 minutes to argue over the propriety of a $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The court will consider whether the verdict is excessive under maritime law in oral arguments scheduled for Feb.…

Feb 15, 2008 6:36 PM CST

DOJ Cites National Security Threat in Detainee Cert Petition

The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to review an appellate ruling requiring the government to supply extensive information about its designation of more than 180 Guantanamo detainees as enemy combatants. The government contends the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals by the District of Columbia Circuit creates…

Feb 15, 2008 11:57 AM CST

Justice Alito Criticizes ‘Sopranos’ Stereotypes

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. criticized The Sopranos television show yesterday for stereotyping Italian-Americans and his home state of New Jersey. In a talk at Rutgers University, Alito complained of “an insidious connection popular culture often makes between being a gangster and being Italian,” the Trenton Times reports. As examples,…

Feb 14, 2008 12:09 PM CST

Scalia: Torture Not an Easy Constitutional Issue

Justice Antonin Scalia said there are no clear-cut answers on the constitutionality of torture in an interview with BBC Radio’s Law in Action. Scalia said physical violence that is barred under the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment may be allowed to extract information to prevent an imminent…

Feb 12, 2008 7:55 PM CST

Ginsburg and Scalia Approach ‘Serial Voter’ Status—in Elections

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia share more in common than just a friendship: They are among the court’s members who vote most often, public records indicate. Ginsburg, a registered Democrat in Washington D.C., regularly votes in both primary and general elections, as does Scalia, who participates in Virginia’s…

Feb 12, 2008 2:59 PM CST

Law Prof Pursues Protégé Student’s Sentencing Case

Law student Matthew Sinor of Ohio State law school had an early victory in his legal career. He interceded on behalf of an old Army buddy and persuaded a judge to lower his friend’s sentence for selling cocaine. But Sinor recently got another lesson in the law from a federal…

Feb 12, 2008 2:03 PM CST

Bush Lawyer Imagines Déjà Vu Election Lawsuit—Between Democrats

The lawyer who represented President Bush in the battle over the 2000 election results raises the possibility of litigation, this time between Democrats, over the party’s rightful presidential nominee. Theodore Olson, a former solicitor general, writes in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that the party’s “Rube Goldberg nominating…

Feb 11, 2008 2:29 PM CST

DOJ Seeks Emergency Supreme Court Appeal in Gitmo Case

The Justice Department plans to file an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of a ruling requiring the government to supply more information about its designation of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant. The case, Bismullah v. Gates, concerns how much information the government has to…

Feb 6, 2008 3:15 PM CST

Jailhouse Lawyer Wins Cert on Sentencing Case

A “jailhouse lawyer” who helped a defendant challenge his cocaine sentence has seen a rare achievement: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Michael Ray, a former paralegal who is in prison in connection with a fraudulent real-estate financing scheme, spends 40 hours a week helping other…

Feb 4, 2008 1:58 PM CST

Former SG Ted Olson Switches Support to McCain

Former solicitor general Ted Olson, chair of Rudy Giuliani’s justice advisory committee, has switched his support to John McCain after the withdrawal of his candidate from the presidential race. Olson praised McCain’s views on judicial nominees, reports the Chicago Tribune blog, The Swamp. “John McCain has a deep-rooted conservative philosophy…

Feb 1, 2008 6:21 PM CST

Taking the Firm to SCOTUS School

It’s not just law students who gain from high court litigation clinics

Feb 1, 2008 5:05 PM CST

At Sea Over Punitives

Justices sail into murky waters over damages from infamous disaster

Feb 1, 2008 3:57 PM CST

Supreme Court Stops Execution After 11th Circuit Lifts a Stay

The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the execution of Alabama inmate James Harvey Callahan yesterday a little more than an hour before he was scheduled to die. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled Tuesday that the execution could proceed because Callahan waited too long to file his…

Feb 1, 2008 12:09 PM CST

Oregon’s High Court Re-Reaffirms $79M Philip Morris Verdict

For the third time, Oregon’s high court has upheld a $79.5 million punitive-damages verdict against Philip Morris after the case was twice kicked back to them from the U.S. Supreme Court. Central to arguments in the case are jury instructions. The Oregon court has ruled that jury instructions proposed by…

Jan 31, 2008 10:12 PM CST

Blogging Lawyer Decries High Court Refusal to Grant Access to Gitmo AIDS Records

A lawyer is blasting the United States’ treatment of a Guantánamo detainee after the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of her emergency request for his medical records. The request for information about the detainee’s diagnosis and treatment for AIDS was turned over to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. who denied…

Jan 30, 2008 6:51 PM CST