Supreme Court Declines Hearing Monday, June 20th, the Supreme Court declined to hear two cases regarding the gun bans imposed in Connecticut and New York. Gun rights activists challenged two state laws that prohibited the ownership of specific assault-style firearms. However, both cases were denied certiorari leaving the current state laws will … [Read more...]
Supreme Court Ruling Forgives Some Cases of Unlawful Searches
On Monday, June 20th, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 on a case that will now allow evidence obtained following an illegal stop to be used in court. The case involves an incident in which a police detective found contraband on a driver after conducting an illegal stop. Detective Douglas Fackrell, the defendant, was tasked with staking out a house … [Read more...]
Obama Administration Achieves Victory in Net Neutrality Legislation
On Tuesday the 14th, the District of Columbia Appeals Court upheld the Obama Administration’s regulations of Net Neutrality. This allows the Federal Communications Commission to classify internet providers as a form of “telecommunications service.” Thus enabling the FCC to regulate internet providers to provide fair internet distribution. Tom … [Read more...]
Appeals Court Rules that 2nd Amendment Does Not Guarantee Concealed Carry
One of the most contentious legal issues in the United States today, social rights notwithstanding, is the issue of the 2nd Amendment. The country has simply not been able to decide the full scope of the amendment which guarantees Americans the right to bear arms, largely because the it is not very specific in the way it is written. Every state is … [Read more...]
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Death Penalty Case with Racial Overtones
It has long been said that the criminal justice system is disproportionately skewed against people of color such as blacks and Latinos. Despite the claim, and the ample statistics to back it up, it is rare that a particular case exemplifies just how biased and the system can be. In a case which the U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear, a … [Read more...]
U.S. Supreme Court to Decide on Hearing Pharmacist Religious Rights Case
Of the many challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, one of the most successful was initiated by arts and crafts giant Hobby Lobby. The company, which is owned and controlled by a relatively small group of individuals, argued that the provisions included in Obamacare which require it to provide … [Read more...]
Oregon High Court Upholds Damage Cap
In a major ruling the Oregon Supreme Court recently ruled that a statutory $3 million limit on damage claims against public entities does not violate the State’s Constitution. The case in question surrounded a $12 million jury verdict which was awarded against a public hospital. Tyson Horton, just eight months old at the time, nearly died as a … [Read more...]
Iowa Supreme Court Rules against Life without Parole for Juvenile Offenders
One of the most important concepts in the U.S. Constitution, as it relates to criminal justice, is the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Over the past two and a half centuries, concepts of just what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment have evolved. In the latest court decision on the subject, Iowa’s Supreme Court ruled that … [Read more...]
Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Looks Forward to Returning to Nine Justice Court
Ever since the sudden death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia the nation’s highest court has been carrying on its business with eight justices instead of nine. The status quo on the Court for many years had been that there were four conservative leaning justices and four liberal leaning justices, with one justice, Kennedy, being a bit of a … [Read more...]
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Death Row Inmate in Racial Discrimination Case
Earlier this week the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a death row inmate in a case regarding racial discrimination involving jury selection. The inmate, Timothy Tyrone Foster, is currently on death row in Georgia after an all white jury convicted him of the 1987 murder of Queen Madge White, an elderly white woman. The suit was brought about when … [Read more...]
