The Roberts 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 »
January 2008
- 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 »
December 2007
- 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 »
October 2007
- Polarized Court Damages Own Legacy
  
  New Republic | Oct 1, 07 7:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Despite the chief justice’s declared intentions, the Roberts Court ravages the idea of “rule based on principle,” acting instead like a polarized political body, the New Republic ’s Benjamin Wittes argues. Speeches about division's acidic effects aside, John Roberts smirks at precedent even as lefty colleagues on his court, which began its third term today, get hysterical in a heartbeat. More »
September 2007
- Supreme Court Returns for a Big Session
  
  Reuters | Sep 30, 07 4:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court enters its second session with Bush appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito tomorrow, which means it will likely resume last session’s rightward slant, Reuters says. Before the court will be big cases on Guantanamo inmates’ right to habeas corpus, the legality of the lethal injection death penalty, and a variety of cases weighing civil liberties against security. More »
- Senior Justice Is Court's Unlikely Liberal Voice
  
  New York Times | Sep 24, 07 2:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - “I don’t think of myself as a liberal at all,” John Paul Stevens told the New York Times , but the longest-serving Supreme Court justice is the head of liberal dissent in an increasingly conservative court. Stevens was appointed by Gerald Ford as a moderate Republican in 1975, and he says every justice since has been more conservative than the last. More »
July 2007
- Chief Justice Is 'Fully Recovered' After Seizure
  
  Washington Post | Jul 31, 07 4:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Chief Justice John Roberts was "fully recovered" yesterday evening following a seizure at his island summer home off Maine, according to a Supreme Court spokeswoman as Roberts spent the night in a hospital for observation. Roberts had a thorough neurological evaluation that revealed no cause for concern, the Washington Post reports. He received minor scrapes from a fall during the convulsion. More »
- New Court Overturns O'Connor
  
  Slate | Jul 10, 07 6:51 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Justice Sandra Day O'Connor legal legacy is one of the first casualties of the new Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, Slate's Dahlia Lithwick writes. After being hailed as the most powerful women in America, the former justice has seen her judgments "explicitly minimized" or "stepped distastefully over" by the conservative court, writes Lithwick. More »
June 2007
- Scalia Joins Majority, but Not Happily
  
  New York Times | Jun 28, 07 8:24 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The high court may have a new conservative majority, but it's not exactly a lovey-dovey one, judging from Antonin Scalia's withering concurring opinions on two recent decisions, the New York Times reports. Although he voted with the majority, Scalia blasted Chief Justice John Roberts for downplaying the impact of the decisions. "This faux judicial restraint is judicial obfuscation," he snarked in one. More »
- Supremes Let Up on Political Ad Limits
  
  Washington Post | Jun 25, 07 2:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Conservatives on the Supreme Court weakened one of the major strictures of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law today, relaxing the definition of prohibited ads in the run-up to federal elections. An increasingly familiar 5-4 majority declared that "issue ads," which stump for political platforms without explicitly endorsing a candidate, are protected speech. More »
- Court Curbs Unions' Political Spending
  
  Associated Press | Jun 15, 07 8:31 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a Washington State law forcing public-sector unions to win consent from workers before spending their dues on politically-charged activities. The law applied to workers who opt out of joining a union but still have to pay the dues, some of which are spent supplying (mainly Democratic) political coffers. More »
May 2007
- Court Relaxes Patent Test
  
  CNET | May 1, 07 7:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tech companies are thrilled with a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that relaxed the "obviousness" test for patents—the standard for deciding when a combination of existing elements deserves patent protection. No longer will Silicon Valley giants have to wrangle with patent "trolls"—people who anticipate minute improvements to products, then cry infringement, CNET reports. More »
April 2007
- Supreme Court Blocks Gitmo Detainees
  
  Associated Press | Apr 30, 07 2:04 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court will not hear the cases of two Guantanamo detainees who sought to challenge the government's policy on military tribunals, it announced today. But it will hear arguments this fall in the case of a Texas death row inmate, a Mexican national whose appeal was supported by the Bush administration and the Mexican government. More »
- High Court Eyes McCain- Feingold
  
  Legal Times | Apr 26, 07 7:37 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court looks poised to pull an about face on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law by striking down its strictures on "issue ads"—pre-election commentary that mentions candidates by name. Sandra Day O'Connor joined a majority in upholding the ban in 2003; Alito and Roberts may provide critical mass to strike it down. More »
- Alito Swings Court Against Late Abortion
  
  New York Times | Apr 19, 07 6:43 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban partial-birth abortions is a gauntlet thrown down by the Roberts court, reports Linda Greenhouse in the Times . Samuel Alito, the newest justice, was the deciding factor in the 5-4 turnaround. While it will affect a small subset of abortion procedures, the focus on "ethical and moral concerns" signals a major shift. More »
- Supreme Court Supports Late-Term Abortion Ban
  
  Washington Post | Apr 18, 07 11:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court voted today to uphold a ban on partial birth abortions, handing a significant victory to President Bush, whose appointees to the high court voted with the 5-4 majority. The 2003 law, which bars a controversial late-term procedure, is the first federal restriction on abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. More »
- Utilities May Profit From Ruling
  
  Wall Street Journal | Apr 3, 07 8:31 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Some utility companies may actually benefit financially from the Supreme Court ruling forcing the EPA to crack down on greenhouse gas emissions, the Wall Street Journal reports. While it will cost them millions in the short-term to meet new requirements, utilities in government-regulated markets—mostly in the Southeast, Great Plains, and West—can pass those costs on to consumers at a profit. More »