Mark Sherman

November 08, 2007 | National Law Journal

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said Wednesday she'd do away with electing judges and make prosecutors and defense lawyers interchangeable to improve the U.S. justice system. O'Connor, who has spent much of her retirement defending judicial independence, said judges who run in partisan elections risk being compromised by the campaign cash they must raise. "If I could wave a magic wand ... I would wave it to secure some kind of merit selection of judges across the country," O'Connor said.

By Mark Sherman

2 minute read

June 24, 2013 | Daily Report Online

The Supreme Court has sent a Texas case on race-based college admissions back to a lower court for another look.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read

May 27, 2009 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - Benjamin Cardozo was indisputably the second Jewish justice on the Supreme Court. Was he also the first Hispanic There is no conclusive answer.The Federal Judicial Center, on its Web site, says he was not. Some readers, objecting to the description of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic nominee to the high court, say Cardozo was Hispanic.

By MARK SHERMAN

2 minute read

April 28, 2008 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights, validating Republican-inspired voter ID laws.In a splintered 6-3 ruling, the court upheld Indiana's strict photo ID requirement, which Democrats and civil rights groups said would deter poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots.

By MARK SHERMAN

3 minute read

February 20, 2013 | New York Law Journal

By a 6-3 vote yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the power of police to detain people who are not at home when their residence is to be searched.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read

April 30, 2007 | National Law Journal

When Chief Justice John Roberts took his center seat for the first time in October 2005, John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court's senior justice, wished him "a long and happy career in our common calling." Last week, Roberts had some words for Stevens — and they were not nearly so kind. In a pointed dissent from decisions overturning death sentences for two Texas inmates, Roberts accused Stevens of engaging in revisionist history.

By Mark Sherman

2 minute read

May 29, 2007 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - The SupremeCourt on Tuesday limited workers' ability to sue employers for pay discrimination that results from decisions made years earlier.The court, in a 5-4 ruling, said that employers would otherwise find it difficult to defend against claims "arising from employment decisions that are long past.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read

November 09, 2009 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - The Supreme Court is considering whether sentencing a juvenile to life in prison with no chance of parole is cruel and unusual punishment, particularly if the crime is less serious than homicide.The cases being heard Monday involve two Florida convicts. Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman when he was 13.

By MARK SHERMAN

1 minute read

December 10, 2008 | Daily Report Online

By MARK SHERMAN

4 minute read

January 12, 2012 | New York Law Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to extend constitutional safeguards against the use of some eyewitness testimony at criminal trials, despite concerns that eyewitness identification plays a key role in innocent people going to prison.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read