Author: DONALD SCARINCI

The continued relevancy of a 1979 case may play a key role in the ongoing legal challenges to the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs. Smith v. Maryland involved whether the installation and use of a pen register, a device that records...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued one of its first Fifth Amendment decisions of the October 2013 Term. In Kansas v. Cheever, the justices unanimously ruled that prosecutors could introduce evidence of a court-ordered mental evaluation in a death...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in what could be one of the most significant environmental cases to come before the Roberts Court. EPA v. EME Homer City Generation involves a legal challenge to the controversial Cross-State Ai...

While the Roberts Court is widely viewed as pro-First Amendment, the justices showed little love for a military protestor in oral arguments held last week. The case, United States v. Apel, involves where to draw the line between military security and...

The country’s highest Court will again consider the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The two cases before the Supreme Court challenge the requirement that employers provide employee health insurance that covers contraceptives and...

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are often as sharply divided as the rest of the country. By a vote of five to four, the Court recently refused to set aside a lower court order allowing a controversial Texas abortion law to take effect. The ...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Bond v. United States, which involves the federal government’s power to implement international treaties. The crux of the case is whether the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is used to just...

The October 2013 Term is in full swing with the U.S. Supreme Court issuing its first opinions. One of the first cases decided, Stanton v. Sims, involved whether police officers are authorized to pursue a fleeing suspect onto a homeowner’s private p...

While the U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, it can only consider cases that are properly before it. One of the biggest roadblocks for litigants is legal standing. In basic terms, a party must have suffered an actual injury in order...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to revisit the issue of whether mentally disabled defendants can face the death penalty. In Atkins v. Virginia, the Court ruled that the execution of persons with mental disabilities constituted "cruel and unusu...