Category: Supreme Court Decisions

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...

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider its first case involving transgender rights. Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. involves whether a transgender Virginia teen who was born a girl, but identifies as a boy, should be able to use the boy...

Weighty constitutional questions are not the only issues that frustrate the U.S. Supreme Court. In Samsung v Apple, the justices appeared equally exacerbated when tasked with establishing a standard for determining damages in a design patent infringe...

Jones v Van Zandt, 46 U.S. 215 (1847) is one of the U.S. Supreme Court cases that considers slavery issues before the Civil War. The justices ultimately ruled against abolitionists, holding that the Fugitive Slave Law was a valid exercise of the auth...