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Elena Kagan

Mar 27, 2013

U.S. Supreme Court tackles California gay marriage case

During heated arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court over California’s voter-approved constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the justices verbally tussled with attorneys arguing over the law’s constitutionality — but also hinted that the case could have a surprise ending.

Mar 20, 2013

Can employers stop class actions before they start?

Can an employer, faced with a purported class action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, avoid litigation by immediately offering a settlement to the sole plaintiff before a class is certified?

Feb 28, 2013

Justices of US Supreme Court provide clarity — but no relief — for immigration defendants

A decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that a seminal Sixth Amendment rights case is not retroactive has provided clarity for attorneys while dashing the hopes of thousands of defendants.

Feb 26, 2013

US Supreme Court questions legality of warrantless DNA collection

Exactly two weeks after Gov. Scott Walker proposed expanding DNA collection efforts in Wisconsin for those arrested on felony charges, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments in a related case Justice Samuel Alito Jr. called “perhaps, the most important criminal procedure case that this court has heard in decades.”

Jan 16, 2013

Justices tackle puzzling law in medical battery case

Attempts to sort out the meaning of a confusing and oddly worded statute to determine whether a Navy surgeon is immune from liability for allegedly performing eye surgery without obtaining consent left the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court bleary-eyed.

Jan 15, 2013

US Supreme Court takes up sentencing factors case

In a case that raises the question of whether judges, rather than juries, can constitutionally decide factors that could trigger an increase in the minimum sentence, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed reluctant to shake up a sentencing scheme that Congress and the courts have relied upon for more than a decade.

Jan 15, 2013

High court considers whether counsel affects speedy trial right

During oral arguments that included a rare comment from Justice Clarence Thomas, the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether a state’s failure to give money to court-appointed counsel for a murder defendant should be weighed against the state in determining whether speedy trial rights were violated.

Jan 11, 2013

US Supreme Court ponders if lawyers can use records to find clients

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are trying to dissect the language of a poorly worded federal statute that protects drivers’ personal information from misuse in an effort to determine whether lawyers broke the law in looking for potential class action plaintiffs.

Dec 6, 2012

US Supreme Court: Can employers stop class actions before they start?

Can an employer, faced with a purported class action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, avoid litigation by immediately offering a settlement to the sole plaintiff before a class is certified?

Nov 30, 2012

Gay marriage before Supreme Court? Cases weighed

The running fight over gay marriage is shifting from the ballot box to the Supreme Court.

Nov 29, 2012

Justices of US Supreme Court consider what law governs plain error appeals

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court tussled on Wednesday over the issue of whether a plain error sentencing appeal must be decided according to the law in effect at the time of sentencing or at the time of appeal.

Nov 5, 2012

U.S. Supreme Court justices question if cops’ detention power goes the distance

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court seemed disinclined to back a lower court ruling allowing police to detain someone incident to the execution of a search warrant after the person had driven a mile away from the location being searched.

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