Category: Supreme Court Decisions

The U.S. Supreme Court handed federal prosecutors another significant win. In Shaw v United States, 580 U. S. ____ (2016), the justices rejected the defendant's arguments that the federal bank fraud statute, which covers schemes to deprive a bank of ...

In December, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in four cases, including two tough cases involving the use of race in redistricting. Justice Samuel Alito characterized them as “very, very complicated.” In the same vein, Justice Anthony ...

The Supreme Court recently rendered its much-anticipated decision in Salman v United States, 580 U. S. ____ (2016). The Court’s unanimous decision, which held that gifts of confidential information from corporate insiders to relatives violate feder...

In Bravo-Fernandez v United States, 580 U. S. ____ (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Constitution’s Double Jeopardy Clause does not prohibit defendants from being retried after a jury has returned irreconcilably inconsistent verdicts of ...

After taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in three cases last week. The issues before the justices included the detention of illegal aliens, the death penalty, and sentencing guidelines.   ...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently added another controversial case to its docket. In Packingham v. North Carolina, the justices will consider the constitutionality of a state law banning sex offenders from accessing certain social media sites.  &nb...

In Texas v White, 74 U.S. 700 (1869), the U.S. Supreme Court held that Texas never legally left the Union during the Civil War because the U.S. Constitution did not allow states to unilaterally secede. Accordingly, the acts of the insurgent state gov...

In Cooley v Board of Wardens, 53 U.S. 299 (1852), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the state may regulate interstate commerce under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, provided that the subject of the regulation is local in nature.   The F...

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court returned to the bench for its November sitting. The justices heard oral arguments in five very diverse cases. The issues before the Court ranged from cheerleading uniform designs to government fraud.    F...

In Strader v. Graham, 51 U.S. 82 (1851), the U.S. Supreme Court held that it had no jurisdiction to determine whether slaves whose master allowed them to occasionally travel from Kentucky into Ohio acquired a right to freedom. Nonetheless, the justic...