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Supreme Court

Jan. 6 defendant asks Supreme Court to throw out obstruction charge

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on April 16 in the case of a former police officer from Pennsylvania who entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks. Joseph Fischer, who was charged with (among other things) assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct in the Capitol, and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, has asked the justices to throw out the charge that he obstructed an official proceeding, arguing that the law that he was charged with violating … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Supreme Court limits “safety valve” in federal sentencing law

Justice Elena Kagan’s opinion for a sharply divided court in Pulsifer v. United States resolves an ambiguity in the provisions added to federal sentencing law in the First Step Act of 2018, coming down firmly on the side of the government. The problem involves how to read a “safety valve” in federal criminal sentencing laws, which allows defendants to avoid the often lengthy mandatory minimum sentences scattered throughout the federal criminal code. The safety valve requires the defendant to … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Bump-stock ban comes before Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has already heard oral argument in one major gun-rights case this term, and on Wednesday the court will hear another. In November, the justices heard United States v. Rahimi, a challenge to the constitutionality of a federal law that makes it a crime for someone who is the subject of a domestic-violence restraining order to have a gun. Wednesday’s case involves the interpretation of federal law rather than the Second Amendment. The question before the court … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Social media content moderation laws come before Supreme Court

Once again, the relationship between the government and social media will headline arguments at the Supreme Court on Monday. NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice are just the second of three social media disputes the court will hear this term. The justices on Monday will consider the constitutionality of controversial laws in Texas and Florida that would regulate how large social media companies like Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) control content posted on their sites.

Defending … Read the rest

Circuit Courts

New Civics Education Program Puts a Local Lens on Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Twenty-two high school students in the St. Louis area were the first to participate in a new civics education program teaching them about the federal Judiciary through a landmark Supreme Court case that originated in their hometown and local court.
Judiciary News – United States Courts

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Supreme Court

Supreme Court deputy clerk

The Supreme Court is hiring a deputy clerk for administration. Applicants must have a law degree and be admitted to the bar of a state’s highest court. More information about the position and the hiring process is available here.

The post Supreme Court deputy clerk appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

SCOTUSblog

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Civil Law

Del. Supreme Court: Fraudulent Transfer Claim Not a “Securities Claim”

Public company D&O insurance policies provide entity coverage (that is, insurance for the benefit of the insured organization) only for “Securities Claims.” But what is a “Securities Claim”? That is the question that Delaware’s courts have grappled with in a long-running dispute between the telecommunications company Verizon and its insurers.

The Delaware Superior Court had held in the ongoing dispute that a litigation trustee’s state law fraudulent transfer claims against Verizon were derivative claims and therefore qualified as a Securities … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Supreme Court refuses to reinstate Missouri Second Amendment law

The Supreme Court on Friday refused a request by Missouri to reinstate a state law that bars police officers from enforcing federal restrictions on the sale and ownership of firearms that the state believes violate the Second Amendment. A federal judge ruled earlier this year that the state law is itself unconstitutional and blocked the state from enforcing the law. In an unsigned order on Friday, the justices left that decision in place while the state’s appeal continues in … Read the rest