Tag: U.S. Supreme Court

A divided U.S. Supreme Court recently held that while jury deliberations should normally be kept secret, racial or ethnic bias mandates an exception to the rule. The court decided Pena-Rodriguez v Colorado, 580 U. S. ____ (2017) by a vote of 5-3. Fa...

The U.S. Supreme Court will not decide the potential blockbuster transgender bathroom case anytime soon. The justices recently remanded Gloucester County School Board v GG back to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.   Facts of Gloucester C...

In Bethune-Hill v Virginia State Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court considered what constitutes racial gerrymandering.   Through its holding that the district court applied an incorrect legal standard in determining that race did ...

In Buck v Davis, 580 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that a death row inmate was likely prejudiced by expert witness testimony offered by his own defense team that suggested he was more likely to be dangerous in the future bec...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in District of Columbia v Wesby. The case, which sprung from a wild D.C. party, addresses two important criminal law issues. The first is when the Fourth Amendment probable cause standard allows poli...

In McDonnell v United States, 579 U. S. ____ (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the conviction of the former governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell. In a unanimous decision, the justices rejected federal prosecutors’ broad interpretation of the te...

In Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v Sanchez Valle 579 U.S ___ (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the federal government are not separate sovereigns for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States...

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in Army Corps of Engineers v Hawkes Co 578 U.S._____(2016) addressed whether a “jurisdictional determination” (JD) that wetlands are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act was a final agen...

In Arver v. United States, 245 U.S. 366 (1918), the U.S. Supreme Court held that Congress was authorized under the Constitution to compel military service pursuant to the Selective Service Act of 1917. The consolidated cases are also known as the...

In Standard Oil Company of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Standard Oil Company was guilty of operating a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. While the Court upheld the app...