Howard Friedman reports on his blog, Religion Clause, that a cert. petition has been filed in Oliver v. Quarterman, a case revolving around whether or not a juror’s use of the bible constitutes grounds for a mistrial. Khristian Oliver claims that a juror member’s reading of the bible during a case represents an ‘external influence,’ [...]

Most terms of the Supreme Court go by without much publicity. The court usually hands down only one or two cases notable to make the front page of the times and another case or two worthy of the business section. In some terms, however, the Court accepts more than its usual load of high-profile cases [...]