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Tag Archives: certiorari

Just call it ‘cert’

As if they were not divided enough, the U.S. Supreme Court justices are split six ways over the pronunciation of the word "certiorari," according to an article in The National Law Journal.

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US high court takes up class action jurisdiction case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a stipulation by a class action plaintiff that damages will be limited to less than the $5 million threshold for federal jurisdiction is enough to defeat a motion to remove the case to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act.

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Taxation of e-discovery costs

When it comes to electronically stored information, “[t]he fuss is about money. Discovery is expensive, and electronic discovery is really expensive.” A.L. Brown, “The Manageable Challenge of Electronic Discovery,” formerly posted at www.rkmc.com. Nevertheless, courts have split on which e-discovery costs may be awarded to a prevailing party under 28 U.S.C. §1920(4).

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US Supreme Court fractures on expert testimony issue

The Confrontation Clause does not bar an expert from testifying at a criminal trial that a DNA profile produced by an outside laboratory matched the defendant’s state lab DNA profile, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a fractured opinion.

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‘In Chambers’ pulls back curtains at Supreme Court

A U.S. Supreme Court justice stands in his august chambers concentrating on his latest project while a law clerk looks on in admiration. Is the subject a petition for certiorari that seeks to upend decades of constitutional precedent? Hardly.

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Justices consider Double Jeopardy without formal verdict

Sometime jury members can’t come to an agreement in criminal cases. But when jurors are prepared to acquit a defendant on the most serious charges in a case and are deadlocked on the lesser included charges, can a defendant be retried or has jeopardy attached?

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US Supreme Court rules prisoner’s interrogation didn’t violate ‘Miranda’

A prisoner was not “in custody” for Miranda purposes when he was isolated from the general prison population and questioned about conduct that occurred outside the prison because he was informed he could leave when he wanted, was not physically restrained and the door to the room was sometimes open, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

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Does Confrontation Clause bar expert DNA testimony?

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have already looked at the issue of DNA evidence in criminal cases, with several rulings restricting prosecutors’ ability to admit such data without calling the lab analysts who prepared the tests to testify.

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Court to consider health care law’s Medicaid mandate

As part of a broad examination of the federal health care law, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether Congress impermissibly conditioned states’ federal Medicaid funding on the adoption of expanded eligibility and coverage thresholds.

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US Supreme Court takes up Brady case

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed sympathetic to an argument by a death row inmate that impeachment evidence withheld by prosecutors during his murder trial would have made a difference in his trial – and that the withholding constituted a Brady violation.

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US Supreme Court to decide ineffective assistance claim issue

In the second half of a U.S. Supreme Court ineffective assistance double-header, the justices considered whether a lawyer’s failure to inform his client of a plea deal gives the defendant a constitutional remedy after he is arrested again and convicted of an additional charge.

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Supreme Court denies Judge Siefert’s petition for certiorari

The U.S. Supreme Court will not be hearing Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge John Siefert’s challenge to the Code of Judicial Conduct. On Monday, the Court denied Siefert’s petition for certiorari in Siefert v. Alexander, bringing to a close a long battle over the free speech rights of judges and judicial candidates. Nevertheless, Siefert said in an interview that he ...

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