Justices move away from leniency for minors convicted of murder

April 22, 2021 Leave a comment

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, said previous Supreme Court decisions only require a judge to consider "an offender's youth and attendant characteristics" before imposing a sentence of life without parole. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court made it easier Thursday to sentence minors convicted of murder to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a ruling that reflects a change in course driven by a more conservative group of justices. ...

Gun group makes last bid for justices’ review of Md. bump stock ban

April 15, 2021 Leave a comment

The gun right group maintains that the state’s ban on bump stocks and other “rapid-fire trigger activators” devices amounts to a “taking” of private property for which “just compensation” is constitutionally owed. (AP Photo/Allen Breed, File)

Maryland cannot avoid its constitutional obligation to financially compensate gun owners for having forced them to surrender what had been lawfully possessed devices to make their firearms fire faster just because they had become “politically unpopular property,” a gun rights ...

Tagged with: bump stock just compensation Maryland Shall Issue Takings Clause

Biden assigns study on delicate issue of Supreme Court

April 9, 2021 Leave a comment

The commission's launch comes amid speculation as to whether President Joe Biden will be able to put his own stamp on the Supreme Court if Stephen Breyer, at 82 the oldest justice on the court, retires at the end of the current term. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday ordered a study of adding seats to the Supreme Court, creating a bipartisan commission that will spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court and instituting term ...

High court nixes Alex Jones’ appeal in Newtown shooting case

April 5, 2021 Comments Off on High court nixes Alex Jones’ appeal in Newtown shooting case

Radio host Alex Jones rallies pro Trump supporters outside the Maricopa County Recorder's Office in Phoenix on Nov. 5, 2020. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, April 5, 2021 declined to hear an appeal by the Infowars host and conspiracy theorist, who was fighting a Connecticut court sanction in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. (AP File Photo/Matt York)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was fighting a Connecticut court sanction in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims of the ...

Supreme Court’s NCCAA case could change nature of college sports

March 30, 2021 Comments Off on Supreme Court’s NCCAA case could change nature of college sports

Houston players celebrate their 67-61 win over Oregon State during an NCAA men's college basketball tournament game in Indianapolis Monday. A case being argued before the Supreme Court could allow colleges to compensate student athletes. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

WASHINGTON — A Supreme Court case being argued this week amid March Madness could erode the difference between elite college athletes and professional sports stars. If the former college athletes who brought the case win, colleges could end up competing ...

Hogan urges Supreme Court denial of bump stock ban appeal

March 30, 2021 Comments Off on Hogan urges Supreme Court denial of bump stock ban appeal

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand a decision that the state owes gun owners no money for having required them to surrender their bump stocks and similar devices that can be placed ...

Tagged with: bump stock just compensation Maryland Shall Issue Takings Clause

Guns are on Supreme Court’s agenda days after mass shootings

March 25, 2021 Comments Off on Guns are on Supreme Court’s agenda days after mass shootings

Gun owners and supporters rally during Gun Owners' Lobby Day in Springfield, Illinois on March 10. Supreme Court justices are meeting privately Friday to discuss whether to add a gun-rights case to their fall docket. ( AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

WASHINGTON — A possible expansion of gun rights is on the Supreme Court’s agenda, days after mass shootings in Colorado and Georgia. The justices are meeting in private Friday to discuss adding new cases to their docket for the fall. ...

High court mulls police power to enter homes without warrant

March 24, 2021 Comments Off on High court mulls police power to enter homes without warrant

During Wednesday’s arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts, shown during a 2019 appearance in Nashville, Tennessee, posed a number of hypothetical scenarios to explore what would be constitutional limits to police authority. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed when police can enter homes without a warrant, with the justices making up scenarios involving elderly neighbors, a cat in a tree, a mask-less social gathering and even a Van Gogh painting ...

Supreme Court declines convicted Md. child molester’s appeal

March 22, 2021 Comments Off on Supreme Court declines convicted Md. child molester’s appeal

FILE - This Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 file photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court Building Washington. The court is setting an election-season review of racial preference in college admissions, agreeing Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012 to consider new limits on the contentious issue of affirmative action programs. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a former Silver Spring elementary school teacher’s argument that his conviction for having sexually abused students should be overturned because the trial judge refused to allow testimony regarding his appropriate behavior ...

Tagged with: admissible evidence character testimony child sex abuse due process

Biden, Baltimore ask justices to dismiss Trump abortion appeal

March 15, 2021 Comments Off on Biden, Baltimore ask justices to dismiss Trump abortion appeal

The Supreme Court last month agreed to hear the appeal of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that the Health and Human Services Department rule does not comply with federal law and was adopted arbitrarily. The Biden administration wants the case withdrawn. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Biden administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to dismiss a Trump-era appeal of a Baltimore-supported decision that struck down a federal rule barring taxpayer-funded pregnancy clinics from referring women for abortions. The high court last month had ...

Tagged with: abortion Department of Health and Human Services doctor-patient privilege Title X