US Supreme Court

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Chocolate Penis May Trigger Death Trial Redo

Supreme Court rules over bizarre gift from jurors to judge

(Newser) - A Georgia death row inmate may win a reprieve because of a chocolate penis and pair of breasts. Jurors at the 1993 murder trial of Marcus Wellons sent the lewd gifts to the judge and chief bailiff after Wellons was sentenced to death. "There were unusual events going on...

Supreme Court Rules Against Ex-Panther on Death Sentence

Abu-Jamal case goes back to appeals court

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has reversed a ruling that would have nullified the death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal. The former Black Panther, convicted in the shooting of a Philadelphia police officer back in 1981, has argued that racism pervaded his trial and sentencing, and that there weren’t enough blacks on...

Wall Street May Fight Tax All the Way to Supreme Court

Lobbyists argue that it's unconstitutional to target big banks

(Newser) - Wall Street’s main lobbying firm has hired a big-time Supreme Court litigator to look into bringing a federal case against the Obama administration’s proposed big-bank tax, arguing that it is unconstitutional. The group sent an email to legal departments across Wall Street saying that the tax could be...

Calif. 'Isn't Letting Me Feel Happy,' Plaintiff Charges
Calif. 'Isn't Letting Me Feel Happy,' Plaintiff Charges
PROP 8 TRIAL

Calif. 'Isn't Letting Me Feel Happy,' Plaintiff Charges

'Being gay means I'm unequal' under marriage ban

(Newser) - The gay couples seeking to overturn the California ballot measure that prohibits them from marrying took to the witness stand on today’s first day in court, with one, Paul Katami, charging that “being gay means I’m unequal” as long as marriage is defined as being between a...

No Broadcast for Prop 8 Trial: Supreme Court

High court says gay marriage trial can't be on YouTube, yet

(Newser) - The Supreme Court is blocking a broadcast of the trial on California's same-sex marriage ban, at least for the first few days. The high court today said it will not allow video of the trial to be posted on YouTube.com, even with a delay, until the justices have more...

Landmark Prop 8 Trial to Begin Today

Witnesses will be called for first time in federal case

(Newser) - Gay marriage will have its day in federal court today, in an unprecedented trial that’s expected to reach all the way to the Supreme Court. The case, Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, challenges Proposition 8 on the basis that it violates the US Constitution’s guarantees to equal protection. It’ll...

Prop 8 Lawsuit Scares Gay Rights Activists

Same-sex marriage proponents take huge gamble in federal court

(Newser) - A group of gay-marriage proponents are risking everything in a winner-take-all federal case about to kick off in San Francisco—and many gay rights activists think it’s a foolish gamble. Two of the top appellate lawyers in the country—Ted Olson and David Boies—will be arguing The Big...

The Lowest Points of the 'Decade of the Oligarchs'
The Lowest Points of the 'Decade of the Oligarchs'
aughts in Review

The Lowest Points of the 'Decade of the Oligarchs'

Bush put US on path to banana republic status

(Newser) - The 2000s were dominated by George W. Bush and the new American oligarchy he represents, writes Juan Cole. He lists hit 10 lowest points of an awful decade:
  • “The constitutional coup of 2000,” in which “ugly racial and other low tricks” and a “far right-wing Supreme
...

Supreme Court Takes Text Message Privacy Case

Police Sgt. Jeff Quon's case goes before high court

(Newser) - The US Supreme Court will take a case that could decide how much privacy workers have when they send text messages from company accounts, the justices said today. They will review a federal appeals court ruling that sided with California police officers who complained that their department improperly snooped on...

Supreme Court OKs One-Drug Execution

Ohio killer had argued new method would be painful

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today refused to halt the execution of an Ohio inmate, clearing the way for the nation's first death sentence to be carried out with a new single-drug injection. Kenneth Biros, the killer who scattered a woman’s body across several states, had argued that the new method...

Supreme Court Sides With Obama on Torture Photos

New law prevents pictures' release

(Newser) - The Supreme Court threw out an appeals court ruling ordering the disclosure of photographs of detainees being abused by their US captors today, citing a recent change in federal law that allows the pictures to be withheld. The justices issued a brief, and expected, order directing the 2nd US Circuit...

Supreme Court Rejects Case Against Redskins Name

Dead end in 17-year-old battle against 'offensive' team name

(Newser) - The Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from a group of Native Americans who've been trying for 17 years to get the Washington Redskins to change their name. The high court today turned away an appeal from Suzan Shown Harjo, ending the latest round between the Redskins and a...

Husband of Retired Justice O'Connor Dies
Husband of Retired Justice O'Connor Dies
OBITUARY

Husband of Retired Justice O'Connor Dies

John O'Connor, 79, suffered Alzheimer's complications

(Newser) - John J. O'Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, died today at age 79 due to complications arising from Alzheimer's disease. John O'Connor, himself a lawyer, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's nearly two decades ago. His condition deteriorated markedly in mid-decade and when she announced her...

Now Pitching for the Court: Chief Justice Roberts

Start collecting your baseball trading cards of the Supremes

(Newser) - On the heels of Supreme Court justice bobblehead dolls comes, of course, baseball trading cards. The first depicts Chief Justice John Roberts as the pitcher in the stance of famed fellow Indiana native Mordecai “3 Fingers” Brown, with legal stats on the reverse. Why? “First, it's fun,”...

Supreme Court Won't Spare Beltway Sniper

Execution set for tomorrow as request for more time fails

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from John Allen Muhammad, also known as the Beltway sniper, clearing the way for his execution tomorrow. Muhammad’s lawyers said he needed more time to prepare his appeals. Although justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor questioned Virginia law for not affording convicts...

Teens Sentenced to Life: Cruel and Unusual?
 Teens Sentenced to Life: 
 Cruel and Unusual? 
SUPREME COURT DOCKET

Teens Sentenced to Life: Cruel and Unusual?

High court will address sentences for kid convicts who didn't kill

(Newser) - Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman and judged incorrigible though he was only 13. Terrance Graham, implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17, was given a life sentence by a judge who told the teenager he had thrown his life away....

Stop Lefty Thugs Bullying Gay Marriage Opponents
Stop Lefty Thugs Bullying Gay Marriage Opponents
GEORGE F. WILL

Stop Lefty Thugs Bullying Gay Marriage Opponents

Supreme Court must step in to keep chill off participation

(Newser) - A movement in Washington state to force the disclosure of the names of those who supported a referendum on same-sex marriage has George Will up in arms over “thuggish liberalism” and its chilling effect on political participation. Signing one’s name in support of such a measure is akin...

Supreme Court Takes Uighurs' Case

(Newser) - The Supreme Court will hear a new case about the rights of Guantanamo detainees, this time involving prisoners who remain in custody even after the Pentagon determines they're not a threat to the United States, the court said today. Last year, the court said in a 5-4 ruling that federal...

Justice Stevens Hints He'll Retire This Term
Justice Stevens Hints He'll Retire This Term
INTERVIEW

Justice Stevens Hints He'll Retire This Term

Liberal stalwart, at age 89, admits, 'I'm not exactly a kid'

(Newser) - John Paul Stevens, the senior justice on the Supreme Court and the bench's liberal lion, says he gave serious thought to retiring—in the late 1980s, when he was 65 years old. Instead, while younger colleagues have packed their bags, Stevens has become the court's master tactician, cobbling together narrow...

Sotomayor: White House Picked My Clothes

Justice describes grueling nomination process at Yale

(Newser) - Every aspect of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination procedure to become the newest Supreme Court justice was so controlled that she was even told what to wear at the acceptance ceremony, she said in a talk at Yale yesterday. Sotomayor, who appeared on campus for her 30th Yale Law School reunion, wanted...

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