Burch v. Louisiana, 441 U.S. 130; 99 S. Ct. 1623; 60 L. Ed. 2d 96 (1979) Facts—Burch and a corporation were both found guilty under the Louisiana criminal code of a nonpetty criminal offense (obscenity) and convicted by a five-person vote of a six-person jury. Although acknowledging that the issue was “close,” the Louisiana Supreme …
Burch v. Louisiana, 441 U.S. 130; 99 S. Ct. 1623; 60 L. Ed. 2d 96 (1979) Read More »
Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145; 88 S. Ct. 1444; 20 L. Ed. 491 (1968) Facts—Duncan, a black youth, was convicted of simple battery, a misdemeanor punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a $300 fine. He had slapped a white youth and was sentenced in a Louisiana parish court to sixty days and $150 fine. …
Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145; 88 S. Ct. 1444; 20 L. Ed. 491 (1968) Read More »
Norris v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 587; 55 S. Ct. 579; 79 L. Ed. 1074 (1935) Facts—Norris was one of nine African American youths, known as “the Scottsboro boys,” who were indicted in 1931 in Jackson County, Alabama, for the crime of rape. They were tried and convicted in Morgan County, Alabama, on change of venue. …
Norris v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 587; 55 S. Ct. 579; 79 L. Ed. 1074 (1935) Read More »
Hurtado v. California, 110 U.S. 516; 4 S. Ct. 111; 28 L. Ed. 232 (1884) Facts—The plaintiff was charged by the district attorney with murder, by means of an information, in a California county court. The plaintiff was tried, the jury rendered a verdict of murder in the first degree, and the court sentenced him …
Hurtado v. California, 110 U.S. 516; 4 S. Ct. 111; 28 L. Ed. 232 (1884) Read More »
Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc, 129 S. Ct. 2252 (2009) Facts—A West Virginia jury found Massey Coal liable for $50 million in compensatory and punitive damages. West Virginia held an election for the State Supreme Court of Appeals, which would hear the case on appeal. Massey’s chairman, Don Blankenship, funneled $3 million to …
Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc, 129 S. Ct. 2252 (2009) Read More »
Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, 537 U.S. 393; 123 S. Ct. 1057; 154 L. Ed. 2d 991 (2003) Facts—Scheidler and other members of the Pro-Life Action Network (PLAN) were sued in 1986 for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO). The district and circuit courts both dismissed the charge on the basis …
DeShaney v. Winnebago Social Services, 489 U.S. 189; 1095 S. Ct. 998; 103 L. Ed. 2d 249 (1989) Facts—Four-year-old Joshua DeShaney was the victim of continuing physical abuse by his father that eventually left him with permanent injuries leaving him in need of confinement in an institution for the profoundly retarded. He and his mother …
Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357; 98 S. Ct. 663; 54 L. Ed. 2d 604 (1978) Facts—Kentucky charged Hayes with uttering a forged instrument of just over $88. The district attorney offered him five years if he pled guilty but threatened to charge him under Kentucky’s Habitual Criminal Act if he did not (Hayes had …
Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357; 98 S. Ct. 663; 54 L. Ed. 2d 604 (1978) Read More »
O’Connor v. Donaldson, 422 U.S. 563; 95 S. Ct. 2486; 45 L. Ed. 2d 396 (1975) Facts—For almost fifteen years, the Florida State Hospital at Chattahoochee confined Kenneth Donaldson as a mental patient “for care, maintenance and treatment.” He had made frequent requests for release; responsible persons had agreed to care for him if necessary; …
O’Connor v. Donaldson, 422 U.S. 563; 95 S. Ct. 2486; 45 L. Ed. 2d 396 (1975) Read More »
Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497; 74 S. Ct. 693; 98 L. Ed. 884 (1954) Facts—This companion case to Brown v. Board of Education arose out of the District of Columbia, where, because it is controlled by the national government, the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (which limits illegal state actions) does not …
Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497; 74 S. Ct. 693; 98 L. Ed. 884 (1954) Read More »
