Mark Sherman

April 06, 2009 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - Chief Justice John Roberts has granted the Obama administration's request to the Supreme Court to block the release of certain sex offenders who have completed their federal prison terms.The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., had earlier invalidated a law allowing the indefinite commitment of "sexually dangerous" prison inmates.

By MARK SHERMAN

2 minute read

October 02, 2007 | National Law Journal

Taxpayers shouldn't be asked to pick up the cost of private schooling for special education children who don't first give public schools a chance, New York City's top appeals lawyer told the Supreme Court Monday. Arguing on the first day of the Court's new term, Leonard Koerner urged the justices not to make it easier for parents like former Viacom CEO Tom Freston to be reimbursed for private schooling in situations where school districts contend they can take care of children's special needs.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read

January 07, 2008 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - Supreme Court justices indicated Monday they are deeply divided over a challenge to the way most states execute prisoners by lethal injection, which critics say creates an avoidable risk of excruciating pain.With executions in the United States halted since late September, the court heard arguments in a case from Kentucky that calls into question the mix of three drugs used in most executions.

By MARK SHERMAN

3 minute read

October 02, 2007 | National Law Journal

A federal judge's decision to slice a few years off a lengthy prison term has brought to the Supreme Court the racially tinged issue of harsh sentences for dealing crack cocaine. Advocates for reducing the disparity point to crime statistics that show crack is more of an urban and minority drug while cocaine powder is used more often by the affluent. They say harsher penalties for crack cocaine unfairly punish blacks.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read

November 12, 2007 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - SupremeCourt justices have track records that make predicting their rulings on many topics more than a mere guess. Then there is the issue of the Second Amendment and guns, about which the court has said virtually nothing in nearly 70 years.That could change in the next few months.The justices are facing a decision about whether to hear an appeal from city officials in Washington, D.

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

March 02, 2007 | National Law Journal

The Supreme Court unanimously reinstated a Nevada child molester's conviction in a decision that continued the justices' refusal to apply recent rulings on criminal procedure retroactively.

By Mark Sherman

2 minute read

November 04, 2008 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - A divided Supreme Court spent an hour on Tuesday talking about dirty words on television without once using any.There was no apparent consensus on the court about what to do in the dispute between the broadcast networks and the Federal Communications Commission over celebrities' one-time uses of profanity on live television during hours when children are likely to be watching.

By MARK SHERMAN

3 minute read

April 02, 2007 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - The SupremeCourt ordered the federal government on Monday to take a fresh look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars, a rebuke to Bush administration policy on global warming.In a 5-4 decision, the court said the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read

April 25, 2012 | Daily Report Online

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

October 08, 2008 | Daily Report Online

WASHINGTON AP - Supreme Court justices indicated Wednesday they would side with a longtime government worker who claims she was fired in retaliation after she cooperated with a sexual harassment investigation.The court wrestled with whether the anti-retaliation provisions of a landmark civil rights law apply to people who haven't themselves complained about workplace discrimination.

By MARK SHERMAN

2 minute read