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In Bucklew v Precythe, 587 U.S. ____ (2019), a divided U.S. Supreme Court rejected a death row inmate’s Eighth Amendment challenge. By a vote of 5-4, the Court held that executing Russell Bucklew by lethal injection would not violate the ban on cr...

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two potential blockbuster redistricting cases last week. As discussed in prior articles, the key issues before the Court in Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek are whether the congressional maps...

In Garza v Idaho, 586 U. S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the presumption of prejudice for Sixth Amendment purposes recognized in Roe v. Flores-Ortega applies regardless of whether a defendant has signed an appeal waiver. The case w...

In Gaffney v Cummings, 412 U.S. 735 (1973), the U.S. Supreme Court held that exact equality between districts was not required for state redistricting as it is for Congressional districts. The Court further held that “political fairness” could j...

In Jam v International Finance Corp, 586 U. S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945 affords international organizations the same immunity from suit that foreign governments enjoy today ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments in Department of Commerce v New York, which involves whether the 2020 decennial census questionnaire can include a question requesting citizenship information. The justices are expected to ren...

In Vieth v Jubelirer, 541 U.S. 267 (2004), a plurality of the U.S. Supreme Court held that partisan gerrymandering claims are non-justiciable and sought to overrule the Court’s prior decision in Davis v. Bandemer. In his concurrence, Justice Antho...