Category: Supreme Court Decisions

In Mapp v. Ohio, 367 US 643 (1961), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that evidence obtained through a search in violation of the Fourth Amendment could not be used as evidence in a state criminal case. The decision relied on the doctrine of selective inc...

The U.S. Supreme Court started its November sitting this week. The justices heard oral arguments in six cases. In addition to an important case involving Article III standing, the Court also considered several criminal law issues. Below is a...

In United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that made burning or otherwise destroying draft cards a crime. In so ruling, the Court established a test for determining whether l...

In Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court relied on the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment” to limit the application of the death penalty. In Kennedy v. Louisiana, the majority sp...

What you need to know about Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association In Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association, 135 S.Ct. 1199 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal agencies do not have to follow the "notice-and-comment" procedures of the Adm...

In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 US 08-1448 (2011), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The...

In T-Mobile South LLC v. City of Roswell, 135 S.Ct. 808 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the federal Telecommunications Act mandates that municipalities provide a written explanation when denying a cell tower application. Moreover, the explan...

U.S. Supreme Court Review for October, 2015: The justices of the Court have been busy since returning to the bench. The Supreme Court Review covers oral arguments in ten cases and added a number of important new cases to the docket. On Oc...

In Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the rights of foreign citizens detained at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. By a vote of 5-4, the Court held that in Boumediene v. Bush the detainees ha...

The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) kicked off its new term on October 5, 2015 and filled about 2/3 of its docket. In total, SCOTUS  granted certiorari in thirteen new cases during its September 28 long conference, bringing the docket to 47.  Last term th...