Category: US Constitution

A mouth swab will soon be as common as a mug shot. In a controversial 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that taking a DNA sample during police booking for serious offenses is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court’s DNA ...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently confirmed that innocence matters in criminal court. While the notion may seem quite obvious, the Court has never found that a prisoner is entitled to habeas relief based on a freestanding actual-innocence claim. Rather...

The Supreme Court never seems to disappoint a reality TV show loving public when it comes to reviewing controversial issues.  The justices recently agreed to take on the role of public prayer in government during its 2014 term. The Establishment ...

President Barack Obama has received criticism in the wake of reports that the Justice Department seized phone records for telephone lines used by reporters and editors at The Associated Press. The government was trying to determine the source of leak...

The U.S. Supreme Court must issue decisions on cases considered in the October 2012 Term before the session ends in June. The justices have concluded all oral arguments and are expected to start rolling out the remaining decisions as soon as this wee...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently considered whether the government could require grant recipients to share its viewpoint as a condition for receiving federal funds. As expected, the justices’ inquiry focused on where to draw the line for First Amend...

In a closely watched case, the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that privacy interests trump law enforcement when it comes to forced blood draws in a drunk driving investigation. Though the justices could not agree on a bright-line rule, the majority...

The right to remain silent, first solidified in Miranda v. Arizona, is one of the bedrock principles of our criminal justice system. However, the extent of its protections may be changing. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Sa...

Senator Mitch McConnell is now the second high profile politician in recent months to have secretly recorded remarks come back to haunt him. Mitt Romney’s controversial “47 percent” speech was made at a private fundraiser, while Senator Mitch M...

The reignited debate over the availability of contraception suggests the controversial issue could be headed back before the U.S. Supreme Court. Most recently, a New York federal judge ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the morning...