DailyWrit

Justice O’Connor may have retired from the Court in 2005, but her judicial career is still alive and well. She recently sat on a case in the Second Circuit and wrote the majority opinion (here)!
The case centered around a defendant, Scott Holyoke, who was notified that his call was subject to monitoring and proceeded to […]

First, Davis v. FEC came down against the “Millionaire’s Amendment.” Alito read from his majority opinion. Not terribly surprising, but almost certainly an interesting read. Interestingly enough, the Court took down disclosure requirements and contribution limits. Contribution limits went down for not being equally applied across the board and “disclosure requirements, which were designed to […]

Now, for Heller: Affirmed, quite naturally. Wow! It came down 5-4, with none of the traditionally ‘liberal’ Justices joining the pro-gun rights majority. Scalia must have written an incredibly strong majority opinion and the ‘conservatives’ must have been unwilling to budge.
Opinions are straight 5-4, one majority and two dissent. No concurring, partials. I’m surprised […]

The Court is likely to release quite a few cases this week. There are 10 cases left in the term and the Court will release a few today and more on Wednesday or Thursday.
In case you had noticed, I am in the process of preparing the Term Case Index for the end of the term. […]

The Supreme Court released five opinions today, the most interesting of which is the decision in Boumediene v. Bush, the landmark detainee right’s case. The Court held, 5-4, that detainees currently designated as ‘enemy combatants’ have signficant habeus corpus rights and have the right to have them upheld in federal district court.
I’m reading this […]

On March 31, the Court accepted cert. in Pleasant Grove v. Summum. The case revolves around the right of aSummum group to erect a monument of the Seven Aphorisms in a City Park in Pleasant Grove, Utah that already has a similarly-sized monument to the Ten Commandments.
A park in Pleasant Grove, Utah features a […]

The Supreme Court today released its opinion in Medellin v. Texas.
The Court ruled 6-3, in an opinion written by the Chief Justice, that the ICC’s decision in Avena was not valid federal law. The Court was sure to reenforce, however, that “Indeed, we agree with Medellín that, as a general matter, ‘an agreement to abide […]

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting op-ed this weekend on state judicial elections.
Lloyd Karmeier, the winner of a $9.3 million campaign for the Illinois Supreme Court in 2004, was supported by $350,000 in direct contributions from employees, lawyers and others directly involved with the insurer State Farm and/or its then pending appeal, and […]

The Supreme Court today released an opinion in Snyder v. Louisiana.
Justice Alito filed a majority opinion with six of his colleagues and Justice Thomas penned a dissent that was joined by Justice Scalia.
The Court held in Snyder that a prosecutor who strikes all of the black jurors from a panel using his preemptory challenges […]

The Court today handed down an opinion in Washington State Grange. Justice Thomas penned a majority opinion that upheld the right of a candidate to ‘declare’ a ‘party preference’ against that parties opposition.
Justice Scalia wrote a dissent and was joined by Justice Kennedy.

In Irizarry v. US (opinion below), the Court is asked to decide whether or not a district court must offer advance warning for an upward sentencing departure.
In 2000, Richard Irizarry’s wife moved from California to South Carolina and filed for divorce, claiming that Mr. Irizarry verbally and mentally abused her and their children during […]

The New York Times has an article that outline the facts surrounding the Court’s recent stay reversal. They slide in this blurb:
Even without a written opinion, the Supreme Court’s action Tuesday night clarified a situation that had become increasingly confusing as state courts and the lower federal courts, without further guidance from the justices, wrestled […]

The Supreme Court today, divided 4-4, affirmed the lower court’s ruling in Board of Education v. Tom F. in a blank per curiam opinion. Justice Kennedy had recused himself from this case.
Tom F. centers around the applicabilty of the Individuals with Disabilities Act to students who have not previously recieved education from a public agency. […]

The New York Times features an editorial today about Clarence Thomas today entitled “The Angriest Justice.” The author argues that because Justice Thomas wrote a book that may not be “consistent with the dignity of the court,” he could be an impartial jurist.
The problem with Justice Thomas’s book, “My Grandfather’s Son,” is that it nurses […]

Its no secret that Justice Scalia loves 24, but seeing the Justices in cartoon form is always funny.