Month: April 2017

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the State of Colorado must return fines and costs assessed against criminal defendants whose convictions have been reversed. The justices decided Nelson v Colorado, 581 U. S. ____ (2017) by a vote of 7-1, with Justice...

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in seven cases last week. The justices will spend the remainder of the term rendering decisions and selecting cases to consider next term.   Below is a brief summary of the last seven cases befor...

Mark W Delahay, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1873 for being intoxicated on the bench. Delahay resigned from the bench prior to his trial before the U.S. Senate. ...

Justice Neil Gorsuch heard oral arguments in his first cases as a newly sworn-in member of the U.S. Supreme Court. One of the cases, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, could be blockbuster.   In Trinity, the justices must decide whether th...

West H. Humphreys, who served as a judge for U.S. District Court for the Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of Tennessee, was impeached in 1862 after he advocated in favor of succession and joined the Confederacy. He was the only federal official...

In Dean v United States, 581 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that district courts have the discretion to determine whether a defendant has already been given a mandatory sentence for one crime when considering an appropriate sentence ...

In Manuel v. City of Joliet, 580 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a Fourth Amendment malicious prosecution claim is the proper avenue for challenging an unlawful post-arrest detention. According to the seven-member majority, such a...

U.S. District Court for the District of Missouri Judge James H. Peck was the third judicial officer impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate, however, found him not guilty of the abuse of power charges. Federal Judgeship  Born in...

In McLane v. EEOC, 581 U. S. ____ (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court’s decision whether to enforce or quash a subpoena issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) should be reviewed for abuse of discretion ra...

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a New York law prohibiting merchants from charging surcharges for paying via credit card is subject to scrutiny under the First Amendment. The Court’s narrow decision in Expressions Hair De...