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Commentary: How not to misunderstand Scalia’s originalism
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia seeks to increase predictability and to reduce the risks associated with judicial discretion. He favors general rules, not case-by-case judgments.
The United States of Justice Kennedy
It’s Justice Anthony Kennedy’s country — the rest of us just live in it. Or so it sometimes feels when the U.S. Supreme Court’s most important decisions come down from Mount Olympus, aka 1 First St., NE, where the justices preside in their white marble temple in Washington.
Scrutinizing the lawyers
Call it the month of the lawyer at the U.S. Supreme Court. During October oral arguments, the justices of the high court heard four cases that dealt as much with how lawyers do their jobs as with substantive issues of law. The court tackled cases dealing with the constitutional implications of bad legal advice, the […]
Questioning Scalia’s dissent on ‘actual innocence’
So let me get this straight. Justice Antonin Scalia thinks it’s OK to execute someone even if he’s innocent as long as his trial didn’t suffer from constitutional infirmities. That’s how I read his dissenting opinion last month when the Supreme Court ordered a federal judge to hear testimony on a death row inmate’s claims […]
Federal vs. states’ power to regulate banks weighed
U.S. Supreme Court justices weighed the power of state authorities to investigate the practices of federally chartered banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. Hearing arguments Tuesday in Washington, several members of the court said states should be able to enforce their fair-lending and other consumer-protection laws against banks regulated by […]
Enron official, fighting retrial, gets support at Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court justices questioned whether prosecutors can retry a former Enron Corp. official on charges stemming from the accounting fraud that caused the energy-trading company’s 2001 collapse. F. Scott Yeager, a onetime business strategist for Enron’s broadband unit, contends that the U.S. Constitution’s ban on double jeopardy bars a second trial on insider trading [&hell[...]
Massey case prompts High Court to weigh restrictions on judges
U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled they may use a case involving Massey Energy Co. Chairman Donald Blankenship to require that judges disqualify themselves from cases involving major campaign supporters. Hearing arguments Tuesday in Washington, the high court considered whether West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin should have recused himself in a Massey case because […]
U.S. Supreme Court bolsters gun ban for domestic abusers
The U.S. Supreme Court buttressed a federal ban on gun possession by people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, saying the law applies to a West Virginia man convicted of beating his wife under a general state battery law. The justices, voting 7-2, rejected Randy Edward Hayes’s contention that the federal law affects only people convicted […]
U.S. Supreme Court briefs
Ginsburg returns after cancer surgery U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her first public appearance since her Feb. 5 cancer surgery, returning to her role as one of the court’s most active questioners during a pair of hourlong arguments Monday. Ginsburg, 75, climbed the three steps to the bench without assistance, took her […]
Latest Opinion Digests
- Criminal Law: Child Abuse-Sufficiency Of Evidence-Closing Argument
- Civil Rights: Religious Freedom-RLUIPA-Res Judicata
- Civil Practice: Res Judicata-Stop Work Order
- Immigration: Drug Conviction-Removability-Overbreadth of State Offense
- Civil Practice: Asset Forfeiture-Sanctions
- Civil Rights: Due Process-Failure to State Claim
- Probate : Revocable Trust – Amendment – Reformation
- Employer – Employee : Unpaid Commissions – At-Will Status
- Criminal Law : Post-Conviction Relief – Effectiveness Of Counsel – Conflict Of Interest
- Appellate Practice : Jurisdiction – Final Judgment
- Domestic Relations : Parenting Plan – Child Support
- Criminal Law : Post-Conviction Relief – Guilty Plea – Sentence Advice
Top stories
- Cole County prosecutor loses third Sunshine Law appeal
- Supreme Court weighs lagging symptoms in work comp case
- New accommodation rights for pregnant workers offer broad protections
- Clark named as next Eastern District chief judge
- Russell reflects on change as women take charge of Missouri’s legal system
- NCAA scores positive gender equity review from St. Louis firm
- Big improvements for Missouri bar takers | List of bar passers
- Athena Dickson named vice-president of Missouri Bar
