In January, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments 12 cases: 4 criminal law cases, 5 civil law cases and three in the area of administrative law and regulations. First, lets look at the civil cases, only one of which may have any interest here. That case is Maracich vs. Spears and involves liability for breach of privacy issues in the course of a lawsuit. | Read More »
In the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut, there is much talk about gun control in the news. Diane Feinstein of California intends to reintroduce an assault rifle ban which expired in 2004 mainly because it was largely ineffective in its intended results when it was in effect. I am quite sure that there will be many more such laws introduced and contemplated as the | Read More »
Tomorrow is November 30th and the United States Supreme Court will hold their weekly conference, one of their last before they break for the Christmas holiday and reconvene in January. Besides taking preliminary votes on some recently heard cases, they are set to decide on whether to take on a plethora of pending petitions. All eyes and ears will be on the Court on Monday | Read More »
With much of the interest focused on the Presidential race this year, next Monday is October 1st- the first Monday in October- the traditional beginning of the 2012-2013 Supreme Court term. Some interesting cases will be heard this month. This article will try to summarize some of the more interesting cases being heard in October. In addition, yesterday the Supreme Court convened in what is | Read More »
Although this year’s election for President will come down to economic issues, social issues stand front and center in some states. Also, despite the fiscal concerns being the main driver of debate, when Obama and Romney square off, some of these questions may come up. And although abortion was/is the biggest of these social issues, ballot questions appear in only two states on this subject. | Read More »
With all but a handful of states having completed their primaries to determine Senate and House races in November, it would be a good time to look at how Tea Party endorsed candidates are doing. There are still a few high profile primary elections yet to go- Massachusetts, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Additionally, there is run off election in Georgia to determine three Republican nominees | Read More »
I have written many articles on the subject of gay marriage and the developing case before the Supreme Court that involves the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed in 1996. This case originates out of the First Circuit Court of Appeals based in Boston and involves a Massachusetts same sex marriage statute in relation to the federal law. Specifically, the courts there | Read More »
The Shelby County case was officially initiated in April 2010, but the real story begins in the 1980s. Then, it what is known as the Dillard case, several blacks challenged the method of at-large elections for county commissioners in Alabama. Shelby County was not an original defendant, but eventually became one. The lower court found that Alabama would often resort to the at-large method to | Read More »
To understand this issue, we need to go back in time because this issue and this case most definitely pertains to the reality of 2012 versus the reality of the early 1960s. Inevitably, like the gay marriage issue, there are charges of “racism” and “bigotry” injected into the argument. Already, groups like the ACLU and NAACP are viewing this case as “potentially setting civil rights | Read More »
This is the fourth and final in a series of articles regarding the gay marriage issue that will likely be taken up by the Supreme Court in the new term beginning in October. There have been some rather intense comments along the way. Obviously, beliefs and opinions run high on both sides of this issue. Should Section 3 of DOMA prevail, there is no doubt | Read More »
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