Supreme Court

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February 2008
- Supreme Court Ruling Boosts Medical Tech
  
  New York Times | Feb 20, 08 6:20 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A Supreme Court ruling today makes it nearly impossible for patients and their families to sue makers of federally approved medical devices under state law. The court ruled 8-1 in favor of cardiovascular device company Medtronic, dismissing a suit brought by a patient injured after one of the company's balloon catheters burst during an angioplasty, the New York Times reports. More »
- Supreme Court Won't Hear Wiretapping Case
  
  Los Angeles Times | Feb 19, 08 1:50 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court has dismissed the ACLU's legal challenge of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, reports the Los Angeles Times . The ACLU had said that by issuing a secret order that allowed wiretapping without abiding by a 1978 law, the president was directly disobeying US law. The court today issued a one-line order declining to hear the suit. More »
- Justice Is Blind, Not Disenfranchised
  
  Washington Post | Feb 12, 08 11:35 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia always exercise their right to vote, and John Roberts goes to the polls only for general elections, the Washington Post reports. Six of the nine Supreme Court justices—five in Virginia, one in DC—are eligible to participate in today’s primaries, and the chief justice is likely qualified in Maryland. More »
January 2008
- Court Rejects $40B Suit from Enron Investors
  
  Bloomberg | Jan 23, 08 4:15 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court yesterday turned away an appeal from Enron investors seeking to sue banks that loaned the company money, Bloomberg reports. A lower court ruling had blocked the investors from organizing a $40 billion class-action suit against Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and other banks. The investors accused the banks of helping the energy trader disguise debt as loans and financing phony trades. More »
- Court Limits Investors' Suits Over Fraud
  
  Washington Post | Jan 15, 08 5:14 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court today made it harder for defrauded investors to sue to get their money back. The court limited the ability of investors to sue third parties—accountants, bankers, and lawyers, for example—who help a company commit securities fraud. The 5-3 ruling, considered one of the most important business decisions in years, will make it harder for Enron victims to recover their money, the Washington Post reports. More »
- Supreme Court Examining Voter ID Laws
  
  NPR | Jan 9, 08 3:37 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court heard arguments today on the legality of voter ID requirements, which have sprung up in 24 states since the 2000 election. The laws are designed to guard against polling-place fraud, which studies show is non-existent. Proponents say requiring ID preempts potential fraud and builds voter confidence, NPR reports; opponents say it’s a pointless burden depressing voter turnout. More »
- Court Skeptical of Challenge to Lethal Injection
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jan 7, 08 2:49 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - As the Supreme Court opened its hearing on lethal injection today, justices expressed serious doubts that the method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, the LA Times reports. Most of the panel, including Chief Justice John Roberts, seemed unconvinced that the three-chemical cocktail results in a painful death, or that a better option exists. A national moratorium is in place while the high court weighs the issue. More »
- Death Penalty Details Withheld
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jan 7, 08 8:56 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - With a landmark case coming before the Supreme Court today on lethal injection, the Los Angeles Times examines the unusual secrecy that shrouds the execution method. Defense lawyers who argue that it inflicts unnecessary pain are routinely blocked from information about executioners and the drugs injected. States say such information needs to be kept secret for the safety of prison personnel. More »
- Bill's Next Job: Supreme Court?
  
  CNN | Jan 4, 08 5:50 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - She may not have gotten off to a great start in Iowa, but a Hillary Clinton victory in November could give the family access to the only branch of federal government it hasn't cracked yet, CNN's Bill Mears writes—the judicial branch. Indeed, Bill Clinton as Supreme Court justice has been "whispered in legal and political circles ever since Sen. Hillary Clinton became a viable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination," Mears writes. More »
- Supreme Court to Hear Child Rapist's Death Penalty Appeal
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jan 4, 08 5:18 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the case of a Louisiana man sentenced to death in the brutal rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter. His attorneys say Patrick Kennedy is "the only person in the United States who is on death row for a non-homicide offense." A 1977 Court decision put a stop the death penalty for acts short of murder. More »
- States Drag Feet on 'Humane' Lethal Injections
  
  New York Times | Jan 3, 08 1:04 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - With the Supreme Court scrutinizing whether lethal injections constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," the New York Times wonders why none of the 38 states who use it have taken a simple step that could solve the problem: trade the three-drug sequence that's said to risk intense pain for a single drug used to euthanize animals. None wants to be the first to make the move, the paper finds. More »
- Public Defender Gets Case to Supreme Court
  
  Associated Press | Jan 1, 08 10:39 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - When the Supreme Court hears a case on the legality of a method of capital punishment next week—for the first time in over a century—it will be largely thanks to the toils of a 29-year-old assistant public defender, AP reports. David Barron filed the appeal on behalf of two Kentucky death row inmates, arguing that the three-cocktail lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. More »
December 2007
- Recent Cases Showcase New Judicial Leeway
  
  Chicago Tribune | Dec 11, 07 4:19 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - More federal judges are giving themselves wiggle room when it comes to once-strict sentencing guidelines, as evidenced by three recent high-profile court cases. The three—involving Conrad Black, Michael Vick, and a crack cocaine case that made it to the Supreme Court—illustrate how a spate of high-court rulings have given judges more leeway, the Chicago Tribune reports. More »
- Supremes: Judges Can Shorten Crack Sentences
  
  CNN | Dec 10, 07 1:00 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today that federal judges can use discretion to order shorter prison sentences in crack cocaine crimes, to lessen a disparity with sentencing for powdered cocaine. It was a win for civil rights advocates, who have long argued that sentencing guidelines call for longer terms in crimes involving crack because defendants are overwhelmingly from urban and minority communities, CNN reports. More »
- Supreme Court Weighs Third Gitmo Case
  
  Wall Street Journal | Dec 5, 07 7:52 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The White House is in the hot seat today as the Supreme Court begins hearing arguments on the rights of Guantanamo Bay inmates to judicial review. Detainee cases were also considered by the court in 2004 and 2006—both rulings went against the administration—but the decision in this case, due in June, is expected to be the most decisive, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
November 2007
- Supreme Court Gets First-Ever Wall Calendar
  
  Washingtonian | Nov 29, 07 7:35 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court may not come knocking at your door over the holidays, but the stars of the judicial branch have their very own calendar for sale, the Washingtonian reports. Legal Times court reporter Tony Mauro is to thank for the effort, which will help ensure that law junkies and history buffs won't risk missing landmark court anniversaries in 2008. More »
- Supreme Court Stops Another Execution
  
  Miami Herald | Nov 15, 07 3:56 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court today halted the execution of Florida man convicted of killing a child in 1991—another sign the court wants executions halted as it considers the constitutionality of lethal injection. Mark Dean Schwab was scheduled to die at 6 p.m., but he will now wait until the court decides whether lethal injections constitute cruel and unusual punishment. More »
- Ex-Ill. Governor Must Report to Federal Prison
  
  Chicago Tribune | Nov 6, 07 4:29 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - George Ryan will report to prison tomorrow after Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens today refused the ex-Illinois governor's request to stay free on bail while fighting a corruption conviction. Ryan, 73, will begin serving his 6½-year sentence in a Wisconsin prison, the Chicago Tribune reports. He was convicted in 2006 of steering lucrative contracts to friends and taking kickbacks. More »
October 2007
- Justices Stay Execution, Signaling Moratorium
  
  New York Times | Oct 31, 07 6:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court delivered an eleventh-hour stay for a prisoner slated to die by lethal injection last night, giving what the New York Times calls a "nearly indisputable indication" that a majority of justices are willing to block all executions until they rule on a death penalty case next spring. Earl Berry had eaten his last meal in a Mississippi jail, and the verdict was delivered 19 minutes before the scheduled execution. More »
- Supremes Will Rule on Exxon Valdez Appeal
  
  Associated Press | Oct 29, 07 6:23 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court will end more than a decade of legal battles over the Exxon Valdez oil spill and review a ruling that awarded a record $2.5 billion in punitive damages in the case. Exxon is hoping the court will throw out or reduce the amount awarded in the wake of the worst spill in US history, Reuters reports. More »