Category: Supreme Court Decisions

On January 12, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida’s capital-sentencing scheme in Hurst v. Florida, 577 U. S. (2016). By a vote of 8-1, the justices held that allowing the trial judge to have the final say on a death sentence violated ...

In Kingsley v. Hendrickson, 576 US _ (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the legal standard for finding unconstitutionally excessive force during pre-trial detention. By a vote of 5-4, the justices held that a pretrial detainee pursuing an ex...

In Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit governments from requiring non-union public employees to pay their “fair share” of dues f...

In Johnson v. the United States, 576 US _ (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act was unconstitutionally vague and violated the due process rights of the petitioner. The statute imposes increased ...

In Alabama Dept. of Revenue v. CSX Transportation, 135 S.Ct. 1136 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed what constitutes tax discrimination under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulation Reform Act of 1976, otherwise known as the “4-R Act.” ...

In Jennings v. Stephens, 135 S.Ct. 793 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed how to apply the Court’s decision in United States v. American Railway Express Co., 265 U. S. 42 (1924) to habeas relief. In that case, the Court held that an appellee ...

In Davis v. Ayala, 135 S. Ct. 2187 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether it was a harmless error to exclude defense counsel from the Batson hearing. A deeply divided court ultimately answered yes, highlighting that habeas petitioners are ...

In Warger v. Shauers, 135 S. Ct. 521 (2014), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b), which provides a juror may not testify about any statement made or incident that occurred during the jury’s deliberations during “an in...

In Woods v. Donald, 135 S.Ct. 1372 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court clarified when a federal court may grant habeas relief. In a per curium opinion, the justices unanimously held that court may only grant such relief when the state court’s decision i...

In Christeson v. Roper, 135 S. Ct. 891 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the requirements for counsel substitution under "the interests of justice" standard. In a 7-2 per curium decision, the majority held that a conflict of interest is ground...