http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-06-18T15:42:28-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scotus_accepts_fair_housing_case_but_it_could_be_resolved_in_settlement_tal/ The U.S. Supreme Court has once again agreed to decide whether Fair Housing Act cases may be based on disparate impact analysis, and once again an agreement could derail the case. The court granted cert on Monday in a suit filed by residents of a predominantly minority neighborhood in Mount… Civil Rights, Government Law, Real Estate & Property Law, U.S. Supreme Court Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:30:55 -0500 44677.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/juries_must_find_facts_that_increase_mandatory_minimums_scotus_says_does_ca/ Any fact that spurs a higher mandatory minimum sentence must be decided by a jury, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion (PDF) overruling Harris v. United States, a 2002 decision that allowed judges to conduct such fact-finding. Harris was decided two… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:11:08 -0500 44670.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scotus_silence_can_be_used_against_defendant_who_didnt_formally_invoke_priv/ A defendant who didn’t expressly invoke his privilege against self-incrimination in a voluntary police interview before his formal arrest can have his silence used against him in court, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a fractured decision. The court ruled in the case of Genovevo Salinas, who had attended… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:47:24 -0500 44668.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/pay-for-delay_drug_settlements_may_violate_antitrust_laws_scotus_says_in_an/ The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that so-called pay-for-delay settlements that temporarily keep generic drugs off the market may violate antitrust laws. In a 5-3 decision (PDF), the court revived an antitrust suit by the Federal Trade Commission in a case… Health Law, Intellectual Property Law, Patent Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:47:09 -0500 44665.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/which_stocks_are_scotus_justices_picking/ Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the wealthiest U.S. Supreme Court justice, with a reported net worth of up to $18.1 million. Rather than holding individual stocks, Ginsburg has most of her money in mutual funds and retirement accounts, the Center for Public Integrity reports. But a… Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:56:03 -0500 44661.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/consistent_conservatives_likely_to_write_most_remaining_scotus_decisions/ So far this term, liberals on the Supreme Court have written 30 majority opinions, while the four most conservative justices have written only 20. Those statistics suggest that the court’s “most consistent conservatives” will be writing many of the court’s remaining decisions, the Washington Post reports. The… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Education Law, Election Law, Family Law, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:07:31 -0500 44659.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chief_justice_roberts_orders_dc_circuit_to_review_rare_public_complaint_aga/ The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has put the wheels in motion for a review of a complaint concerning a federal appeals court judge. The June 12 letter from Chief Justice John Roberts does not name the judge or describe the complaint, but says the transfer was made… Appellate Practice, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, U.S. Supreme Court, 5th Circuit Court, States, Louisiana Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:40:29 -0500 44631.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/isolated_human_genes_cant_be_patented_scotus_rules/ The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous opinion that human genes cannot be patented. The court's opinion (PDF) by Justice Clarence Thomas struck down patents on isolated DNA associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. At issue in the case… ABA Journal Production, Weekly Newsletter Stories, Health Law, Intellectual Property Law, Patent Law, U.S. Supreme Court Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:01:26 -0500 44630.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scotus_quotes_neufeld_book_in_dna_opinion_did_ellipses_change_the_point/ Two ellipses in a quote in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion are getting some closer scrutiny. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy bolstered his majority decision upholding DNA testing for arrestees last week with a quote from a book called Actual Innocence, written by the founders… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, U.S. Supreme Court Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:15:23 -0500 44603.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/justice_who_said_he_never_met_a_homosexual_actually_had_several_gay_law_cle/ Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. told colleagues in 1986 that he had never met a homosexual, though one of his clerks that term was gay. In fact, Powell was the justice most likely to hire gay clerks at the time, according to a book published in 2001 that chronicled gay… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:08:14 -0500 44531.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/takings_claim_by_raisin_growers_may_be_heard_by_9th_circuit_scotus_rules/ California raisin growers will get their day in a federal appeals court. The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled the appeals court may consider a takings claim by the raisin growers who refused to turn over a percentage of their crop to the federal government. The impact of the decision… Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:15:00 -0500 44526.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/grain_operators_scotus_win_is_a_strong_reaffirmation_of_the_ex_post_facto_c/ The ex post facto clause is violated when a defendant risks a harsher penalty under a revised version of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines adopted after the crime in question, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-4 decision. The opinion is “a strong reaffirmation of the ex post facto… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:02:36 -0500 44524.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/sotomayor_has_earned_more_than_3m_for_memoir_sales/ Writing a memoir has been a lucrative endeavor for Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor has earned more than $3 million in royalties for the book My Beloved World, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Disclosure forms released on Friday show… Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 10 Jun 2013 06:24:28 -0500 44519.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chemerinsky_court_unanimously_wrong_on_virginias_foia/ Several different constitutional provisions and principles prevent states from discriminating against out-of-state residents. In light of this, it was surprising and troubling that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in McBurney v. Young (PDF) that it is constitutional for a state to allow only its own citizens to… Constitutional Law, Government Law, Legal Theory, Media & Communications Law, Privacy Law, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:31:15 -0500 44374.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/ex-offenders_face_tens_of_thousands_of_legal_restrictions/ Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, Legislation & Lobbying, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, U.S. Supreme Court, Features Sat, 01 Jun 2013 05:00:58 -0500 44312.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/copyright_case_upholds_the_rights_of_purchasers_to_buy_abroad_and_sell_in_u/ Intellectual Property Law, Copyright Law, International Law, Legislation & Lobbying, U.S. Supreme Court Sat, 01 Jun 2013 03:40:10 -0500 44245.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/june_19_1961_police_raid_of_dolly_mapps_home_sparks_a_revolution_in_the_cri/ Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Legal History, U.S. Supreme Court, Precedents Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:00:10 -0500 44258.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/are_lengthy_concurrences_boosting_scotus_prospect_for_federal_appeals_judge/ Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is known for writing lengthy concurrences, and he stayed true to form in a decision on Tuesday for Comcast in a dispute over its handling of the Tennis Channel. Kavanaugh was on a three-judge panel that reversed… Antitrust Law, Judiciary, Media & Communications Law, U.S. Supreme Court, D.C. Circuit Court Thu, 30 May 2013 06:10:40 -0500 44396.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scotus_rules_for_texas_inmate_who_didnt_raise_claim_of_ineffective_counsel_/ The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled for a Texas death-row inmate who claimed in his federal habeas appeal that his trial counsel failed to adequately investigate and present mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his trial. In a 5-4 decision (PDF), the court ruled that inmate… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, U.S. Supreme Court Tue, 28 May 2013 11:49:40 -0500 44376.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scotus_actual_innocence_may_excuse_blown_habeas_deadline_scalia_blasts_shin/ A blown deadline isn’t an automatic bar to habeas review for an inmate who shows actual innocence of the crime, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. In a 5-4 opinion (PDF), the court said a missed deadline isn’t an absolute bar to review, but "unjustified delay" does count… Appellate Practice, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Criminal Procedure, U.S. Supreme Court Tue, 28 May 2013 10:12:25 -0500 44375.abajournal.com