« Courts - Judge Sonia Sotomayor is President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee | Main | Courts - "Chicago judge passed over for high court" »

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Courts - SCOTUS issues three today [Updated]

Three opinions today from the SCOTUS, briefly summarized here by Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSLaw Blog.

See this AP story headed "Court Says States Can't Bar Some Rights Suits," re the ruling in Haywood v. Drown:

The Supreme Court has ruled that states may not prevent people from filing civil rights claims against government workers in state courts.

The court, by a 5-4 vote Tuesday, said people have a choice whether to file their claims in federal or state courts. Filing fees are cheaper and courthouses often are closer in the state system, potentially important factors for prison inmates and the poor.

"Justices Ease Rules on Questioning Suspects" is the headline to this AP story on a major ruling today:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has overturned a long-standing ruling that stops police from initiating questions unless a defendant's lawyer is present, a move that will make it easier for prosecutors to interrogate suspects.

The high court, in a 5-4 ruling, overturned the 1986 Michigan v. Jackson ruling, which said police may not initiate questioning of a defendant who has a lawyer or has asked for one unless the attorney is present. * * *

The Michigan v. Jackson opinion was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the only current justice who was on the court at the time. He dissented from the ruling, and in an unusual move read his dissent aloud from the bench. It was the first time this term a justice had read a dissent aloud.

"The police interrogation in this case clearly violated petitioner's Sixth Amendment right to counsel," Stevens said. Overruling the Jackson case, he said, "can only diminish the public's confidence in the reliability and fairness of our system of justice."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 26, 2009 10:58 AM
Posted to Courts in general