Convicts Don't Have Right to Test DNA: Supreme Court

Will attack 'conservative judicial activism,' citing Citizens United ruling

(NEWSER) - “Judicial activism” isn’t just a conservative buzzword anymore. Democrats intend to use the upcoming confirmation battle over John Paul Stevens’ successor to argue that it’s the conservatives on John Roberts’ court who are litigating from the bench, high-ranking Democrats tell Politico . Exhibit A: The wildly unpopular Citizens United v. FEC ruling, which eliminated virtually every check on corporate political spending. More»

Expect a fierce battle for liberal justice's replacement

(NEWSER) - What will John Paul Stevens’ retirement mean for the Supreme Court? Here are three early thoughts on what comes next:

• Expect the tea partiers to get extremely riled up over whoever President Obama nominates, writes Chris Good of the Atlantic . They have a “very strict (one could almost say fundamentalist)” take on the Constitution, and they’re itching for a post-health care fight.

Departure of senior liberal justice will shift the balance of power

(NEWSER) - John Paul Stevens will probably retire from the Supreme Court this summer, leaving an opening for President Obama to fill. In the broadest sense, Obama's pick will change little: The president will probably choose a justice who will side with the court's liberals. But the new face will not be a replacement for Stevens, who has been the senior liberal justice for 16 years and is a master of using his opinion-assignment authority to influence outcomes. More»

They seem ready to strike down law

(NEWSER) - The Supreme Court seems likely to back an appellate court ruling that said depictions of animal cruelty are protected as free speech by the First Amendment. In arguments today, the justices considered the case of a man convicted of selling dogfighting videos under a 1999 law that equates videos of animal cruelty with child pornography. Most of the justices seemed to be of the opinion that the law’s definition of banned content is too vague, notes USA Today. More»

(AP) - The Supreme Court says accidentally shooting a gun during the commission of a crime should bring the same penalties as intentionally using a firearm. The high court today upheld the conviction and sentence of Christopher Michael Dean, who was arrested for trying to rob a bank in Georgia in 2004. A gun went off accidentally during the attempted robbery when Dean tried to switch the weapon from one hand to the other. More»