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 4/10 Good --- www.scotusblog.com http://feeds.feedburner.com/scotusblog/pFXs
| The Supreme Court of the United States blog ... |
Monday, May 12, 2008 --- 73 days ago http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/scotusblog/pFXs/~3/288704744/
| Updated to 12:55 p.m.
Because four Justices were disqualified, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that allows a massive lawsuit seeking damages from companies that did business in South Africa during the apartheid era to proceed toward a trial. With four Justices out, due to their investments in some of the companies involved or to family ties, the Court lacked a quorum of six, so federal law requires that the Second Circuit Court decision at issue be affirmed. No opinion was issued in this situation.
In the only ruling of the day on the merits, the Court, by a vote of 8-1, decided that a federal magistrate judge may preside over jury selection in a felony trial, if defense counsel expressly gives consent to handing off that task from the regular judge. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the Court’s main opinion in Gonzalez v. U.S. (06-11612). Justice Clarence Thomas dissented. Justice Antonin Scalia joined only the result, not the Kennedy opinion.
The Court agreed to hear one new case, an appeal by a death row inmate in Virginia, Edward Nathaniel Bell. The Court limited its review to the question of whether federal courts hearing a state prisoner’s habeas case must defer to state court findings even if the state court did not consider the specific evidence at issue. The case is Bell v. Kelly (07-1223). The case will be heard in the Term starting Oct. 6. In a separate order, Chief Justice John ... |
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