Mark Sherman

December 11, 2007 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to allow some 19,500 federal prison inmates, most of them black, to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences.The commission, which sets guidelines for federal prison sentences, decided to make retroactive its recent easing of recommended sentences for crack offenses.

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

October 06, 2010 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - The father of a Marine killed in Iraq is asking the Supreme Court to reinstate a $5 million verdict against members of a fundamentalist church who picketed his son's funeral with signs like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Hates the USA."The court is hearing arguments Wednesday in the dispute between Albert Snyder of York, Pa.

By MARK SHERMAN

3 minute read

January 20, 2009 | National Law Journal

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a 13-year-old girl's constitutional rights were violated when school officials strip-searched her for a prescription-strength pain reliever. No pills were found on the student. The 9th Circuit last year ruled in favor of the student, calling the search "grossly intrusive." The Court also will consider, even if the search is found unconstitutional, whether the school vice principal who ordered the search is financially liable for damages.

By Mark Sherman

2 minute read

October 30, 2012 | New York Law Journal

Supreme Court justices are weighing copyright protections for publishers, creative artists and manufacturers in a global marketplace in a case that has attracted the interest of Costco, eBay and Google.

By Mark Sherman

1 minute read

April 16, 2008 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the most common method of lethal injection executions, likely clearing the way to resume executions that have been on hold for nearly 7 months.The justices, by a 7-2 vote, turned back a constitutional challenge to the procedures in place in Kentucky, which uses three drugs to sedate, paralyze and kill inmates.

By MARK SHERMAN

4 minute read

June 04, 2007 | National Law Journal

The Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence Monday of a man convicted of carjacking, rape and murder who initially won a reprieve by arguing that a potential juror was wrongly excluded from his trial.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read

March 30, 2007 | National Law Journal

Two outsized personalities clashed at the Supreme Court on Wednesday when Justice Antonin Scalia was briefly silenced by a barbed comment from longtime Harvard Law professor and television commentator Arthur Miller. Lawyers who argue at the Court are advised that jokes often fall flat -- but this one left other justices laughing and solicited an "ooh" from spectators. And it wasn't long before Scalia had his say.

By Mark Sherman

2 minute read

December 03, 2008 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP-A cigarette maker and a smoker's widow squared off for the third time at the Supreme Court on Wednesday over a $79.5 million punitive damages award, but the real battle was between the justices and their counterparts on Oregon's high court.Twice before, the Supreme Court has struck down the judgment against Altria Group Inc.

By MARK SHERMAN

4 minute read

March 01, 2012 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - Supreme Court justices are meeting for the first time with European human rights judges to talk about freedom of expression, among other things. They're doing it behind closed doors.The sessions with members of the European Court of Human Rights are taking place on the George Washington University campus.

By Mark Sherman

1 minute read

January 09, 2008 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - Democrats and Republicans square off before the Supreme Court Wednesday over a law that requires voters to produce photo identification before they can cast a ballot.The strictest voter ID law in the nation was passed by Indiana's Republican-led legislature on party-line votes and signed by its Republican governor in 2005 as a way to deter voter fraud.

By MARK SHERMAN

2 minute read