Search Results for: sotomayor

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday in Concepcion v. United States that judges should have sentencing discretion under the 2018 First Step Act and 2010 Fair Sentencing act in crack-cocaine cases. The 2010 Fair Sentencing Act brought crack-cocaine sentencing more in-line with cocaine sentencing. Prior to the act, crack-cocaine sentences were far harsher than cocaine [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Monday that Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach, was wrongfully terminated by the Bremerton School District. Kennedy had been holding prayers with students for eight years when the school asked him to refrain from continuing the practice due to Establishment Clause concerns. Kennedy briefly stopped and then resumed [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Friday in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there is no constitutional right to abortion, overturning the landmark decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The decision comes in a case involving a Mississippi law banning all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi’s Gestational Age [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Thursday in Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP that two Republican state legislators may step in to defend the state’s voter identification law, even though the state’s Democratic attorney general is already doing so. The North Carolina State Conference for the NAACP sued the state over [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday struck down a New York law requiring individuals applying for unrestricted handgun licenses to demonstrate a greater need for self defense than the general public. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion in the 6-3 decision, with Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice [...]

The US Supreme Court Thursday held that a Miranda violation is not basis to bring a claim under 42 USC § 1983 in the case of Vega v. Tekoh. 42 USC § 1983 allows for individuals to sue the government for civil rights violations.  The case first arose when a female patient accused Terrence Tekoh of [...]

The US Supreme Court Tuesday ruled in a 5-4 decision that federal courts may not order states to transport inmates to find new evidence without first deciding of any resulting evidence would be admissible in court. In 1993 Raymond Twyford was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death by an Ohio jury. Twyford was [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Tuesday in Carson v. Makin that Maine’s exclusion of religious schools from public tuition assistance funds is unconstitutional. Maine contracts with private schools to ensure students who live in districts that do not operate their own secondary schools still receive a free education that is adjacent to a public [...]

The US Supreme Court Wednesday broadened federal courts’ abilities to decide whether a child in an international custody dispute has to return to their home country by saying that courts do not need to consider “all possible ameliorative measures” for a child’s return when a child is at risk of grave harm. In the case [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that Texas does not have the authority to regulate gaming on the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo reservation in El Paso, Texas. The case stemmed from a dispute between the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo tribe and the state of Texas regarding the state’s gambling laws’ applicability on tribal lands. [...]