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September 16, 2025 | SCOTUS Rejects Challenge to South Carolina’s Exclusion of Planned Parenthood from State Medicaid Program
Category: Supreme Court Decisions
SCOTUS Rules Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause Applies to States
In Timbs v. Indiana, 586 U. S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Eight Amendments’ ban on excessive fines is applicable to states. The Court’s decision was unanimous. Facts of Timbs v. Indiana Tyson Timbs pleaded guilty in ...
Gray v. Sanders Established “One Person, One Vote” Redistricting Principle
In Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368 (1963), the U.S. Supreme Court established the famous "one person, one vote" principle for legislative districting. “The concept of political equality...can mean only one thing—one person, one vote,” Justice Wi...
Unanimous Court Rules Confidential Sales Can Invalidate Patent as Prior Art
In Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., 586 U. S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a commercial sale to a third party who is required to keep the invention confidential may place the invention “on sale...
Murdock v Pennsylvania and the Free Exercise Clause
In Murdock v Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105 (1943), the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a municipal ordinance that taxed the door-to-door sale of religious merchandise. According to the divided Court, such a tax violated the First Amendment’s Free Exer...
Stokeling v United States: Divided Court Rules Necklace Snatching Is Violent Felony Under ACCA
In Stokeling v United States, 586 U.S. ____ (2019), the U.S. Supreme Court held by a vote of 5-4 that the Armed Career Criminal Act’s (ACCA) elements clause encompasses a robbery offense that, like Florida’s law, requires the criminal to overcom...
United States v Stitt Clarifies Burglary Under Armed Career Criminal Act
In United States v Stitt, decided on December 10, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the term “burglary,” as used in the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), includes the burglary of any “structure or vehicle that has been adapted or ...
Mount Lemmon Fire District v Guido: Age Discriminations Law Covers All Public Employers
In its first published decision of the term, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) applies to state and local governments, regardless of the size. The Court’s decision in Mount Lemmon Fire District...
What’s on Tap for the U.S. Supreme Court? Previewing the October 2018 Term
While it is still unclear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will be comprised of eight members or nine, the justices will begin holding oral arguments for the October 2018 Term in a few short weeks. Starting on October 1st, the Court will hear a number ...
SCOTUS Considers Sentencing Guidelines in Rosales-Mireles v United States
In Rosales-Mireles v United States, 585 U. S. ____ (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court considered how to remedy a clear error by the district court in calculating a defendant’s United States Sentencing Guidelines range. By a vote of 7-2, the Court held ...
Previous Articles
SCOTUS Rules Death Row Inmate Has Standing to Challenge Post Conviction DNA Testing Procedures
by DONALD SCARINCI on September 11, 2025
In Gutierrez v. Saenz, 606 U.S. ____ (2025), the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a death row inmate ha...
Supreme Court Clarifies Applicability of First Step Act to Vacated Sentences
by DONALD SCARINCI on September 4, 2025
In Hewitt v. United States, 606 U.S. ____ (2025), a divided U.S. Supreme Court held that the First ...
SCOTUS Rules E-Cigarette Retailers Can Challenge FDA Order in Fifth Circuit
by DONALD SCARINCI on
In FDA v. R. J. Reynolds Vapor Co., 606 U.S. ____ (2025), the U.S. Supreme Court held that e-cigare...
