Category: Supreme Court Decisions

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the state of Maryland’s tax scheme is unconstitutional. Since it fails to recognize taxes paid in other states, the Court found that the state’s personal income tax system violates the...

In United States v. Guest, 383 U.S. 745 (1966), the U.S. Supreme Court held that violations of the Fourteenth Amendment can serve as grounds for criminal charges under a federal conspiracy law that makes it a crime to "injure, oppress, threaten, or i...

There are acceptable limits to free speech in some campaign finance laws for the Roberts Court, at least when it comes to judges elected by popular vote. In a case regarding campaign finance laws, Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, the majority of t...

Oral arguments lasted only a few short hours, but the Supreme Court will likely debate the same-sex marriage cases for the next two months. Not surprisingly, Justice Anthony Kennedy holds the likely swing vote that could change history in regards to ...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that absent reasonable suspicion, police extension of a traffic stop in order to conduct a dog sniff violates the Constitution’s prohibition of unreasonable seizures. The decision in Rodriguez v. United States...

In a brief per curium opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that lifetime monitoring of a convicted sex-offender could run afoul of the constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The decision in Torrey Dale Grad...

Privacy rights are not expressly addressed under the U.S. Constitution. However, the Supreme Court has nonetheless found that they protected under the Bill of Rights. Most notably, the Court has held that the notion of “liberty” under the Fourtee...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued its much-anticipated decision in Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama, which addressed whether the state of Alabama engaged in racial gerrymandering during its...

The U.S. Supreme Court gave online retailers a significant victory in the Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl case,when it held that the Tax Injunction Act (TIA) does not prohibit them from challenging a Colorado sales tax scheme that requires out...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted review in Hurst v. Florida, which challenges the constitutionality of a Florida law limiting the power of the jury in death penalty cases. The criminal law case raises interesting questions with regard a defen...