Mark Sherman

April 06, 2005 | Law.com

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller urged Congress Tuesday to renew every provision of the Patriot Act, parts of which are due to expire in December. Among them is a section permitting secret warrants for "books, records, papers, documents and other items" from businesses, hospitals and other organizations. Gonzales said some of the most controversial provisions of the Patriot Act have proven invaluable in fighting terrorism and aiding other investigations.

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

March 06, 2007 | Law.com

Lawyers for Guantanamo detainees held more than five years without charges asked the Supreme Court on Monday to step in a third time to guarantee that they can challenge their confinement in U.S. courts. The detainees want the justices to hear their case and issue a decision before the Court ends its term in early summer. The Supreme Court has twice ruled that foreigners imprisoned at the U.S. naval base in Cuba can pursue their cases in American courts, rejecting Bush administration arguments.

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

March 19, 2008 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Supreme Court has thrown out the death sentence in a Louisiana murder case, citing racial prejudice in the actions of a prosecutor who called the murder trial his "O.J. Simpson case" and kept blacks off the jury.

By MARK SHERMAN

3 minute read

December 04, 2006 | Law.com

The Supreme Court stepped into a dispute over free speech Friday involving a suspended high school student and his banner that proclaimed "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." The justices agreed to hear the appeal by the Juneau, Alaska, school board and principal Deborah Morse of a lower court ruling that allowed the student's civil rights lawsuit to proceed. The school board hired former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to argue its case to the high court.

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

February 22, 2007 | The Legal Intelligencer

A deadline is a deadline is a deadline, the U.S. Supreme Court said yesterday in refusing to allow a man wrongly imprisoned for more than eight years to sue the police officers who arrested him.

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press

3 minute read

April 10, 2007 | Law.com

Like Lewis Powell and Sandra Day O'Connor before him, Justice Anthony Kennedy has become the Supreme Court's "swing justice," a term he dislikes because he says it implies vacillation. Yet the evidence so far this term shows how well the phrase fits. Six cases before the Court this term have come down to 5-4 votes. Kennedy, alone, was in the majority every time. Two cases last week highlighted his pivotal role in shaping just about any matter of consequence before the justices.

By Mark Sherman

5 minute read

September 22, 2011 | Legaltech News

A bipartisan group that includes former leaders of the FBI and DEA called for limits on law enforcement's use of GPS and other powerful technologies to track the movements of suspects. Police should be required to obtain a search warrant for any GPS surveillance that lasts more than 24 hours, said a new report from the Constitution Project think tank.

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

June 28, 2010 | Law.com

The Supreme Court held today that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live, advancing a recent trend by the Court to embrace gun rights. By a 5-4 vote, the justices cast doubt on handgun bans in the Chicago area, but signaled that some limitations on the Constitution's "right to keep and bear arms" could survive legal challenges. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said that the Second Amendment right "applies equally to the federal government and the states."

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

March 06, 2007 | National Law Journal

Lawyers for Guantanamo detainees held more than five years without charges asked the Supreme Court on Monday to step in a third time to guarantee that they can challenge their confinement in U.S. courts. The detainees want the justices to hear their case and issue a decision before the Court ends its term in early summer. The Supreme Court has twice ruled that foreigners imprisoned at the U.S. naval base in Cuba can pursue their cases in American courts, rejecting Bush administration arguments.

By Mark Sherman

4 minute read

April 26, 2007 | Law.com

The Supreme Court threw out death sentences for three killers in Texas Wednesday because of problems with instructions given jurors who were deciding between life in prison and death. The cases stem from jury instructions that Texas has not used since 1991. Under those rules, courts have found that jurors were not allowed to give sufficient weight to factors that might cause them to impose a life sentence instead of death. The three 5-4 rulings had the same lineup of justices.

By Mark Sherman

3 minute read