Supreme Court

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Ga. Plans First Execution Since Court Ruling

William Earl Lynd denied clemency for two murders

(Newser) - A Georgia killer is slated to be the first US inmate to die by lethal injection since the Supreme Court ruled the method constitutional last month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The state denied William Earl Lynd clemency today and plans to execute him tomorrow for killing his girlfriend and another...

Woman Who Defied Interracial Marriage Ban Dies at 68

Mildred Loving launched case that led to Supreme Court changing law in 1967

(Newser) - Mildred Loving, whose challenge to Virginia law led to the Supreme Court decision overturning bans on racially mixed marriage, has died at the age of 68. Loving, who was black, and her white husband Richard pleaded guilty to “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of...

Execution Ban Lifted, States Ready the Death Chambers

With Supreme Court's blessing, officials move to play catch-up

(Newser) - States are getting ready to catch up on executions now that a Supreme Court moratorium has been lifted, the New York Times reports. At least 14 executions have been scheduled in six states in coming months. "The Supreme Court has essentially blessed their way of doing things," a...

Citizen McCain Gains Senate Support

Colleagues back scrappy 'Panamanian,' but resolution isn't law

(Newser) - A New Hampshire man pushing for a federal-court ruling that John McCain isn't eligible to be president will have trouble making his case—but the question of McCain's status as a "natural born citizen" is uncharted legal territory, the Washington Post reports. The Senate voted this week to declare...

Supreme Court OKs Photo ID Requirement for Voters

Ruling upholds Indiana law critics charge will keep minorities from casting ballots

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today upheld photo ID requirements for Indiana voters, the Justices’ most significant election-law ruling since Bush v. Gore—and one critics say could keep minorities and poor voters from voting in November. The 6-3 decision validated the country’s most arduous voting rules, though 20 states have...

Scalia On Bush v. Gore: 'Get Over It'

He says politics played no role in the court's decision

(Newser) - "Get over it," Justice Antonin Scalia tells critics who accuse the Supreme Court of letting political motivations affect its 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore. Plus, Al Gore was responsible for pushing the Florida recount through the courts, Scalia points out in an upcoming 60 Minutes interview. And...

Equal Pay Bill Blocked in Senate

Clinton and Obama declare truce to back bill stomped by GOP

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama interrupted their rival campaigns yesterday to vote together on a bill that would make it easier for women to sue employers for pay discrimination. But their moment of unity proved fruitless as Senate Republicans blocked the bill, likely killing it for the rest of the...

Justices Deny 11 Capital Appeals

Court passes on death-row cases following ruling upholding lethal injection

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today dismissed appeals from 11 death-row prisoners in seven states, including three who received last-minute stays of execution last year; the result was no surprise 1 week after the landmark ruling upholding lethal injection in Kentucky, the New York Times reports. The earlier opinion held that the...

Military Families Fight for Right to Sue

High court ruling forbids suits against military hospitals

(Newser) - Many grieving families are outraged that they cannot sue over medical malpractice in military hospitals, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some have seen sons and husbands—all active duty service members—die in hospitals where resources are stretched thin. But a 1950 Supreme Court ruling created the Feres doctrine, which...

Media-Shy Scalia Hits Road With 18th-Century Views

Conservative justice will plug stance as he pitches new book

(Newser) - After years of courting controversy but shunning publicity, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is about to go on a media offensive, reports USA Today. The conservative Scalia, who has notoriously kept the press away from his public appearances, allowed C-SPAN recently to broadcast a question-and-answer session with students. He'll also...

Lethal Injection Ruling Will Spur Executions, Lawsuits

Pro-death states will waste no time; lawsuits likely in others

(Newser) - Executions will resume in the United States, thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling on lethal injection yesterday, but so will lawsuits, the New York Times reports. By condoning methods “substantially similar” to Kentucky’s, the court has invited more challenges. “We have left the states with nothing...

Justice Calls Death Penalty Unconstitutional

Punishment 'pointless,' Stevens says, though he'll keep to precedent

(Newser) - Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says he now believes the death penalty is unconstitutional, as it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Stevens was a key vote in upholding the legality of the death penalty 30 years ago, and says he will continue to respect the precedent of the court...

Supreme Court Upholds Kentucky Lethal Injection

Ruling clears way for other states to resume capital punishment

(Newser) - By a vote of 7-2, the Supreme Court upheld today the use of lethal injection by a three-drug cocktail. Two death row inmates in Kentucky had charged that the method violated their Eighth Amendment right to be spared cruel and unusual punishment. The mix of drugs has been used in...

Supreme Court Rejects Boy Killer's Appeal

He claims drugs made him shoot grandparents

(Newser) - The Supreme Court refused today to let a teenage boy appeal his 30-year sentence for double-murder, CNN reports. Christopher Pittman, who was tried as an adult in South Carolina 3 years ago, is serving the longest sentence ever for someone his age—and blames antidepressants for inspiring him to kill...

Justices to Weigh Death Penalty for Child Rape

Louisiana case seeks harsher punishment for crimes against children

(Newser) - The Supreme Court could forbid the death penalty for child rapists in a major upcoming decision, the Washington Post reports. On Wednesday, the court will hear the case of a Louisiana man who raped his 8-year-old stepdaughter so violently she needed surgery—a case that follows a series of landmark...

After 20 Years, Feds Crack Hate Mail Case

Clarence Thomas among targets of racist threats

(Newser) - An Ohio man who authorities believe sent threatening communications to black and mixed-race recipients over the course of 20 years was indicted this week, the Plain Dealer reports. David Tuason, 46, threatened to blow up the US Supreme Court and kill Clarence Thomas in 2003 but eluded capture from the...

States Sue EPA for 'Foot Dragging' on Warming

Coalition aims to force agency to take action on global warming

(Newser) - States, cities and environmental groups have teamed up to take on the federal government over global warming, the New York Times reports. The 18-state coalition is aiming to force the EPA to take action in the wake of last year's Supreme Court ruling that the agency should limit vehicle emissions...

Supreme Court Stands Pat on FBI Raid of Rep's Office

Separation of powers violated, appeals ruled

(Newser) - The Supreme Court declined today to hear an appeal of a ruling that the FBI violated separation-of-powers law in a 2006 raid on the office of Rep. William Jefferson, the New York Times reports. Though the raid itself was not unconstitutional, an appeals court found, the FBI went too far...

Bush Can't Force US Courts to Obey World Body: Justices

Ruling by international court not binding, nor was president's order for US to follow

(Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today for states, and against President Bush in a quarrel over international law, finding that a foreign death-row inmate did not have a right to further review—though the world's top court said he did. Ernesto Medellin was not provided counsel from his native Mexico, violating...

Supreme Court Overturns La. Death Sentence

Blacks wrongly blocked from jury in case compared to OJ

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a former Marine awaiting execution on Louisiana's death row. Allen Snyder, an African-American, was convicted of fatally stabbing his estranged wife and her boyfriend, but the court ruled 7-2 that prosecutors acted improperly by using its challenges to seat an all-white...

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