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Tag: US Supreme Court

Justices again side with Biden on ghost guns

October 18, 2023

Ghost guns are firearms without serial numbers that virtually anyone can assemble from parts, often purchased in a kit. In 2022, the ATF issued a rule to make clear that federal laws governing the sale of firearms – requiring, for example, background checks for purchases and imposing record keeping obligations – apply to ghost guns.

Read more at SCOTUSblog

New term for conservative US Supreme Court

October 3, 2023

Among the cases the court previously agreed to hear this term are major ones involving gun rights, the power of federal agencies, social media regulation, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement, the legality of Republican-drawn electoral districts and more.

Read more at Reuters

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A Supreme Court Case Over The Word ‘And’

September 27, 2023

Why Thousands Of Prisoners Could Be Spared Because Of A Supreme Court Case Over The Word ‘And’

The legal dispute is over what “and” means in that case—whether it means someone must get the mandatory minimum if any of those three criminal history rules applies, or if they can avoid a harsher sentence as long as they don’t satisfy all three.

Read more at Forbes

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Supreme Court Puts First Amendment Limits on Laws Banning Online Threats

June 28, 2023

Justice Kagan analyzed the question by examining how the Supreme Court had treated other categories of unprotected speech, notably libel. Noting that public figures must show at least reckless disregard of the truth — meaning subjective awareness of probable falsity — to prevail in libel cases, she said something similar was required in true-threats prosecutions.

Read more at The New York Times

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Court blocks pathway for federal prisoners to raise legal innocence claims

June 26, 2023

On Thursday, the Supreme Court held that a federal prisoner cannot raise a claim of legal innocence if he has already challenged his conviction – even if that claim was unavailable at the time he filed his challenge.

Read more at SCOTUSblog

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Rulings by US Supreme Court during its current term

June 23, 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a number of important rulings during its current term that began last October and is expected to decide its remaining cases by the end of June including disputes involving race-conscious college admissions practices, President Joe Biden's student debt forgiveness plan and LGBT rights.

Read more at Reuters

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Unanimous court holds that the remedy for a venue error is retrial

June 15, 2023


In Smith v. United States, a unanimous court held on Thursday that when an appellate court finds that venue for a criminal trial was improper, the conviction should be vacated with the possibility of a retrial. In other words, those cases should not be dismissed with a retrial barred by double jeopardy.

Read more at SCOTUSblog

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Supreme Court rules for Jack Daniel’s in ‘poop-themed’ dog toy trademark fight

June 8, 2023

Various companies, including Nike Inc., Campbell Soup Co. and American Apparel, filed briefs backing Jack Daniel’s, saying the appeals court’s interpretation of the law threatened trademark protections that shield the value of iconic brands.

Read more at NBC News

Supreme Court tosses terrorism claim against Twitter

May 18, 2023

The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a claim against Twitter under an anti-terrorism law for platforming ISIS propaganda. More broadly, in a similar appeal against Google, the court passed on deciding the scope of legal protections for internet companies in a case that had huge implications for how the internet functions. The issue was whether Section 230 protects internet platforms from lawsuits stemming from their algorithms.

Read more at MSNBC

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Did they search without a warrant?

May 9, 2023

One police officer opens a car door, and another looks inside. Did they search without a warrant?

In Jackson v. Ohio, Jackson asks the justices to grant review and reverse the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision. Until the state supreme court’s decision, Jackson contends, “no American court had ever held that the police can shield their searches from constitutional scrutiny by dividing their work between two officers.”

Read more at ScotusBlog

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