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SCOTUS Rules Against Death Row Inmate with Rare Health Issue

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Apr 1, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that Missouri can give a lethal injection to a convicted murderer who says his rare medical condition means he would probably choke on his own blood, Bloomberg reports. Writing for the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch said death-row inmates seeking to avoid lethal injection must show a "feasible, readily implemented" alternative method of execution. The majority rejected inmate Russell Bucklew’s suggestion that Missouri instead use a lethal dose of nitrogen. Gorsuch said that method had never been tried and in any event might not reduce Bucklew’s risk of suffering.

SCOTUS Denies Push to Halt Ban on Bump Stocks

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 28, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court officially denied an appeal from gun rights advocates seeking to stop a Trump administration ban on bump stocks, NPR reports. Gun rights groups had filed separate appeals to Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, requesting a temporary hold on the ban. Roberts denied one appeal earlier this week; Sotomayor referred hers to the full court, which denied it today, allowing the ban to proceed while challenges to it move through the courts. The ban requires bump stocks to be destroyed — such as by melting, shredding or crushing — or handed over at an office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Justice Thomas Asks First Question in 3 Years During Oral Arguments

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 21, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas surprised courtroom observers when he asked a question during oral arguments yesterday in a case alleging repeated prosecutor bias in jury selection, The ABA Journal reports. Thomas asked about the race of jurors eliminated by the defense in the case. Thomas last asked questions in February 2016 in a gun rights case. In that case, he ended up writing a dissent that claimed that the majority was relegating the Second Amendment to a second-class right.

SCOTUS Backs Trump Move to Detain Immigrants with Criminal Histories

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 19, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has backed the Trump administration’s ability to detain immigrants with criminal records at any time and hold them indefinitely while they await deportation, even if they served time for their offense years ago, The Hill reports. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the 9th Circuit’s finding that the mandatory detention requirement for certain immigrants with criminal records applies only if an immigrant is detained by officials as soon as he or she is released from jail.

Court Declines to Hear Discrimination Case for Now

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Mar 18, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a religious liberty case next term concerning Phyllis Young, a Hawaii woman who declined to rent a room in her bed & breakfast to a lesbian couple out of objections to same-sex marriage. The court’s action leaves in place a lower court opinion that found Young’s actions to be discriminatory. The state’s intermediate Court of Appeals issued the ruling but left pending any damages to be awarded. Court observers said the case was not accepted because it had not yet made its way through the lower courts to a final judgement. CNN has more on the story.

Justice Kagan: SCOTUS Considering Ethics Code

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Mar 8, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is considering whether to create an ethics code for Supreme Court justices, Justice Elena Kagan told a congressional committee this week. The ABA Journal reports Kagan made her statements during an appearance with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. before a House appropriations subcommittee that is reviewing the Supreme Court’s budget. Kagan made the disclosure in response to questioning about judicial accountability in the #MeToo era. Kagan and Alito also fielded questions about televising oral arguments. Both said they were against the idea.

SCOTUS Rules Partially in Favor of Death Row Inmate with Dementia

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 27, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment bars the execution of an inmate with dementia if he is unable to form a rational understanding of the reasons for his death sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The ABA Journal reports that the court ruled in the case of Vernon Madison, an Alabama inmate who suffers from vascular dementia and can’t remember killing a police officer in 1985 during a domestic dispute. Failing to remember a crime isn’t a bar to execution if the defendant still has a rational understanding of why the state wants to execute him, Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion. What matters, Kagan said, is whether a person has a rational understanding of the reasons for his death sentence.

SCOTUS Rules Ban on Excessive Fines Applies to State, Local Governments

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 20, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the Constitution's ban on excessive fines applies to state and local governments, thus limiting their ability to use fines to raise revenue, NPR reports. The court's opinion came in the case of Tyson Timbs, whose $42,000 Land Rover was seized by the state of Indiana after he was arrested for selling a small amount of heroin to undercover agents for $400. The court's decision, written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was announced by her on her second day back on the court following surgery late last year.

Justice Ginsburg Returns to the Bench

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 15, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is returned to the U.S. Supreme Court on today for the first time since her surgery for lung cancer, The ABA Journal reports. The court announced that 85-year-old Ginsburg was to participate in the private conference in which justices review requests for certiorari. The justices return for oral arguments Tuesday.

SCOTUS Allowed Alabama to Execute Man Without Requested Spiritual Advisor

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Feb 8, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled against an Alabama Death Row inmate who requested to have a spiritual leader present at the time of his execution, NPR reports. Domineque Ray, a Muslim, requested the presence of his imam at his execution, but prison officials would only allow their own Christian chaplain inside the chamber, citing a security risk. The vote was 5-4, with the high court’s conservative majority citing the “last-minute nature” of the request as the reason for its decision.
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