U.S. Supreme Court

States’ River Dispute Could Lead to Unusual Supreme Court Split

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether Delaware can block New Jersey from allowing a natural-gas storage and processing facility on the Delaware River. At issue are the states’ rights under a 1905 agreement that allowed each state to exercise “riparian jurisdiction” over the river, jurisdiction that extends to the…

Nov 28, 2007 5:25 PM CST

Supreme Court Likely to Allow Individual’s 401(k) Suit

The U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to allow a lawsuit against the administrators of a 401(k) plan accused of causing an individual’s $150,000 loss, the New York Times reports. The issue in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates Inc. is whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act allows suits for…

Nov 27, 2007 1:28 PM CST

Justice Scalia Teams With Writing Expert for Book

Judges have long complained about deficiencies in lawyer advocacy. Now U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is doing something about it. Scalia is working with legal writing expert Bryan Garner to write a book on the art of persuasive lawyering. Scalia said in a statement that he hopes the book…

Nov 27, 2007 12:39 PM CST

Court Considers Right to Sue for Mishandled 401(k)

Three justices from the U.S. Supreme Court’s liberal wing appeared sympathetic today to arguments on behalf of a man who lost $150,000 in his 401(k) plan. James LaRue claims he lost the money because administrators of his 401(k) retirement plan twice failed to follow his direction to move the money…

Nov 26, 2007 6:59 PM CST

Supreme Court Rejects DNA Quest By Death-Row Inmate

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of an Alabama death-row inmate seeking to establish his innocence through DNA testing. Thomas Arthur is seeking to test key evidence in the case, the Associated Press reports. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed dismissal of…

Nov 26, 2007 4:31 PM CST

Teen Ranch Fails to Get Cert in Free Exercise Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down a case that challenges Michigan’s decision to bar placements of troubled youths at a faith-based organization, SCOTUSblog reports. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled (PDF) in January that Michigan could refuse placements at Teen Ranch Inc. because the group…

Nov 26, 2007 4:01 PM CST

Supreme Court Turns Down Welfare Search Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to accept a case challenging a requirement that welfare recipients allow searches of their homes. The program, adopted in 1997 by the district attorney’s office in San Diego County, required unannounced home visits by the district attorney’s fraud investigators, SCOTUSblog reports. Those who refuse…

Nov 26, 2007 3:24 PM CST

Second Amendment’s Reach a Lingering Issue in Gun Case

The Supreme Court’s wording in framing the Second Amendment issue in a Washington, D.C., gun case doesn’t mention one of the issues before it—whether the Second Amendment applies to the District of Columbia. When the court accepted the case yesterday, it put the issue this way: Do the provisions of…

Nov 21, 2007 12:17 PM CST

Supreme Court Accepts Challenge to Union Law

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to a California law that bars some employers from commenting on labor organizing efforts. The law prohibits employers that accept state money from using the funds to “assist, promote, or deter union organizing,” according to the petition for certiorari (PDF…

Nov 20, 2007 6:56 PM CST

High Court Accepts 2nd Amendm’t Gun Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide a closely watched case that asserts the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. The court decision could result in the most in-depth examination of the right to keep and bear arms in nearly 70 years, the Associated Press reports.…

Nov 20, 2007 6:34 PM CST

Health Plans More Aggressive in Seeking Legal Recoveries, Thanks to High Court

Some people who are injured and receive a settlement or verdict are getting a big surprise: More litigation from the health plan that paid their benefits and now wants the money back. Employee health plans are getting more aggressive about enforcing subrogation clauses that permit recovery of the money, buoyed…

Nov 20, 2007 11:55 AM CST

John Paul Stevens Second-Oldest Justice Ever

Last Friday, Justice John Paul Stevens because the second-oldest justice ever to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. As of Nov. 16, Stevens was 87 years and 210 days old, DC Dicta reports. He will have to stay on the U.S. Supreme Court for almost three more years to break…

Nov 19, 2007 2:13 PM CST

O’Connor Family Volunteered for Personal Alzheimer’s Story

A Phoenix television reporter is defending her decision to broadcast a story about the husband of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who formed an attachment to another woman at the Alzheimer’s facility where he resides. O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court in 2006 to care for her…

Nov 16, 2007 7:39 PM CST

President Bush Blasts Senate’s ‘Search and Destroy’ Judicial Review

UPDATED: President Bush spoke to the Federalist Society on Thursday, complaining that “judicial lawlessness” threatens democracy and must be stopped. According to a White House release, the president says that too many people interpret the Senate’s advise-and-consent role in federal judiciary confirmations to mean “search and destroy.” The president is…

Nov 15, 2007 10:00 PM CST

Supreme Court Blocks Fla. Execution; 11th Circuit Didn’t Act

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the Florida execution of child killer Mark Dean Schwab, the Associated Press reports. The move was widely expected. Earlier today a federal appeals court had refused to halt the execution, saying the U.S. Supreme Court can issue an injunction if it sees fit.…

Nov 15, 2007 7:02 PM CST