The Court heard arguments in Timbs v. Indiana on Wednesday November 28, 2018, in which the Court is being asked to decide whether the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause is incorporated against the States under the Fourteenth Amendment. Before discussing the case and arguments made by both sides, here is a quick primer on background … Continue reading Oral Argument: Excessive Fines and the States
On October 30, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Garza v. Idaho, a case involving a criminal defendant’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Garza argues that his lawyer was ineffective because he failed to file an appeal when Garza had requested that he do so. Garza’s lawyer counters that he did not file … Continue reading Oral Argument October 30: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Arguments Oct_02_2018 The Court heard arguments in two cases on Tuesday: Gundy v. United States and Madison v. Alabama. In Gundy, the Court was asked to consider whether the non-delegation doctrine (which says that Congress cannot hand its legislative powers to agencies) is violated by the federal Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act’s (SORNA) delegation … Continue reading October 2 Arguments: Delegation and Dementia
On Tuesday, February 27th, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Microsoft Corporation, a case that has garnered worldwide attention. Amicus briefs have been filed by the European Commission on behalf of the European Union, the government of the United Kingdom, and multiple interest groups. The case centers around Microsoft’s web-based … Continue reading In Depth: United States v. Microsoft
McCoy v. Louisiana is a capital case in which the defendant’s lawyer, Larry English, conceded that the defendant had killed his alleged victims in the hopes of avoiding a death sentence. The defendant, Robert McCoy, expressly and repeatedly objected to this strategy; he was very clear that he wanted to maintain his innocence. Shortlybefore trial, … Continue reading In Depth: McCoy v. Louisiana
By Michael Gentithes, Visiting Assistant Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law. The smartphones we carry in our pockets radically simplify our lives, reducing hour-long tasks to seconds and eliminating the need to separately carry a camera, map, book, and audio player. But should they also enable the government to access months of records of everywhere someone … Continue reading The End of Miller’s Time?
On this day in 1966, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Miranda v. Arizona. In a decade filled with headline-making Supreme Court rulings, Miranda stood out. It became a favorite target of a conservative law-and-order campaign that helped get Richard Nixon elected president and transformed the politics of criminal justice. But as controversial as … Continue reading This Day in Supreme Court History—June 13, 1966
On this day in 2000, United States v. Morrison was argued in front of the Supreme Court. Morrison was a constitutional challenge to a section of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) that provided a civil remedy for victims of gender-motivated violence by allowing them to sue for damages in federal court. The … Continue reading This Day in Supreme Court History—January 11, 2000
On this day in 1984, Strickland v. Washington was argued at the Supreme Court. This case considered what it meant for a criminal defendant to have the “effective assistance” of counsel, which the Court had previously ruled the Sixth Amendment required. David Washington waived his right to a jury trial and pleaded guilty to three … Continue reading This Day In Supreme Court History—January 10, 1984
Justice Scalia made news last week for his remarks during an appearance at Rhodes College. In addition to expressing in his characteristically blunt way his frustration with the Court’s same-sex marriage opinion from last term, he predicted that the Court was on its way to striking down the death penalty. The prediction got a good … Continue reading Scalia, the Court, and the End of the Death Penalty