Monday, April 30, 2007
Justices Back Police in Chase Case
“The Supreme Court on Monday gave police officers protection from lawsuits that result from high-speed car chases,” reports The New York Times. According to the report, in ruling against a Georgia teenager who was paralyzed after his car was run off the road during a police chase, the Court concluded that law enforcement officers do not have to call off pursuit of a fleeing motorist when they reasonably expect that other people could be hurt.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Chief Justice Denies Detainees' Request
“Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday denied a request to step in and prevent cases of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay from being thrown out of court,” reports The Associated Press. Chief Justice Roberts’ decision was in response to an attempt by the Justice Department to have the detainees’ cases challenging their indefinite detention dismissed in the U.S. District Court in Washington.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Justices, 5 to 4, Overturn 3 Texas Death Sentences
“The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned death sentences in three cases from Texas, all by votes of 5 to 4 and all with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy providing the margin of victory to his four more liberal colleagues,” reports The New York Times. As the report explains, however, “Because all three decisions dealt with an idiosyncratic provision of the Texas death penalty law that is no longer in effect, their practical significance may be limited to requiring the resentencing of several dozen inmates on that state’s death row.”
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Court Weighs Rights of Passengers When Police Stop Cars
“Most people sitting in the passenger seat of a car that has been stopped by a police officer do not feel free to open the door and leave,” explains this article by The New York Times which examines an important oral argument that took place at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday. In a potential landmark case that could define the rights of car passengers during police stops, the article goes on to observe from the justices questioning, “Neither do most members of the Supreme Court.”
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Supreme Court to Revisit High School Recruiting Case
The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure, often called partial-birth abortion, Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench, reports The Associated Press. According to the report, “The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.”
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
MySpace Postings Are Free Speech
The Associated Press reports, “A judge violated a juvenile's free-speech rights when he placed her on probation for posting an expletive-laden entry on MySpace criticizing a school principal, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.” Finding the student’s speech protected, the court declared, “While we have little regard for A.B.'s use of vulgar epithets, we conclude that her overall message constitutes political speech.”
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Justices Push EPA to Act on Car Emissions
“The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for a more aggressive attack by government on global warming, which could include the first national rules to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new cars, trucks and power plants,” reports The Los Angeles Times. “In a 5-4 decision,” the report explains, “the high court rebuked the Bush administration and ruled that so-called greenhouse gases — like carbon dioxide — were air pollutants subject to federal regulation.”
Justices Reject Appeals at Guantanamo--For Now
The USA Today reports, “The Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear appeals by Guantanamo prisoners held for more than five years, in the latest action in a long-running dispute over the Bush administration's handling of terrorism suspects and other foreign detainees.” However, as the report explains, “Three dissenting justices, Stephen Breyer, David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, wrote that the dispute over whether the detainees have a basic right to challenge their detention deserves ‘immediate attention.’”
