Key Cases Before the Supreme Court

A guide to key cases on the Supreme Court's 2007-2008 docket:

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ELECTION LAW

Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (07-21), Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita (07-25)

The court will use a 2005 Indiana statute requiring voters to show photo identification before casting ballots to examine whether such laws are legitimate attempts to combat voter fraud or barriers to poor and minority voters. It is a fierce debate with hard partisan edges that could have impact on the 2008 elections

QUESTION: Whether laws that require government-issued photo identifications for voters violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments?

STORY: Justices May Iron Out Compromise On Voter ID (Jan. 10, 2008)

Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party (06-713), State of Washington v. Washington State Republican Party (06-730)

Washington voters in 2004 approved a primary system in which all voters may participate and the top two vote-getters move to the general election, even if both stated the same party "preference" on the ballot. Federal courts threw out the plan before it took effect, saying it was too similar to the "blanket primary" in California invalidated by the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2000 it violated the rights of political parties to choose their own candidates.

QUESTION: Does the system unconstitutionally burden the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of association for state political parties?

N.Y. Board of Elections v. Torres (06-766)

Two federal courts have agreed that New York's method of choosing lower-level judges is so controlled by party bosses that candidates not selected by political leaders have virtually no chance of being elected.

QUESTION: Is New York's system so weighted in favor of party bosses that it violates the First Amendment rights of voters and candidates?

STORY: State of Washington Defends Its Primaries Before Supreme Court (Oct. 2, 2007)

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Baze v. Rees (07-5439)

The court has ruled that the death penalty is constitutional, but it has been more than 100 years since it determined a specific manner of execution meets constitutional standards. Two death row inmates from Kentucky are now challenging the lethal injection procedure, amid a number of conflicting lower court rulings and capital punishment moratoriums in the states.

QUESTION: Does the lethal injection procedure violate the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment?

STORY: Lethal-Injection Ruling May Have to Wait (Jan. 8, 2008)

Kimbrough v. United States (06-6330)

Derrick Kimbrough's sentence for distributing crack cocaine brings to the court the controversial guidelines that call for greater sentences for selling crack than powder cocaine. A district judge sentenced Kimbrough to a lesser sentence, disagreeing with the guidelines, which have been criticized as disproportionally harming black defendants. An appeals court disagreed.

STORY: Court Revisits Sentencing Guidelines (Oct. 3, 2007)

QUESTION: In trying to set a sentence that is sufficient but not greater than necessary tp punish a defendent, may a judge disregard federal sentencing guidelines because of a disagreement with the "100:1 crack/powder ratio" disparity?

Snyder v. Louisiana (06-10119)

May a prosecutor raise the issue of O.J. Simpson to convince a jury to impose the death penalty against a black defendant who killed the companion of his estranged wife. The Louisiana Supreme Court has twice upheld the sentence, despite the reference to Simpson and the district attorney's use of challenges to strike African-Americans from the jury.

QUESTION: Did the jury process violate Supreme Court rulings barring the use of race-based peremptory challenges in jury selection and inject racial bias into the proceedings?

STORY: Court Hears La. Jury Bias Case (Dec. 5, 2007)

GUANTANAMO DETAINEES

Boudemiene v. Bush (06-1195), Al Odah v. United States (06-1196)

The court ended its term in June with a dramatic decision to reverse its previous actions and hear claims of detainees that they are entitled to have the federal courts consider challenges to their confinement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit had ruled the Military Commissions Act passed by Congress in 2006 revoked the courts' jurisdiction.

QUESTION: Did the MCA validly deprive the courts of jurisdiction to consider habeas corpus claims of Guantanamo detainees, and if so, is the MCA constitutional?

STORY: Justices Appear Divided on Detainees' Rights (Dec. 6, 2007)

EXECUTIVE POWER

Medellin v. Texas (06-984)

This case tests the limits of the president's power over state courts. In 2005, President Bush ordered the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review the murder conviction of Jose Medellin, and 50 other Mexican nationals, after the World Court ruled the defendants had been denied the right to meet with the Mexican consulate. The court disregarded Bush's edict, saying the World Court's decision was not binding on it.

QUESTION: Did the president overstep his constitutional powers, or are state courts bound by international treaties ratified by the United States?

STORY: Chief Justice Prolongs Executive Powers Debate (Oct. 11, 2007)

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

United States v. Williams (06-694)

Congress's latest attempt to crack down on child pornography--the PROTECT Act of 2003--was struck down by an appeals court as impermissably vague and overbroad. The court struck the "pandering" portion of the law regarding computer-generated or enhanced images.

QUESTION: Is the law's prohibition against presenting the material in a way to make another believe something is child pornography, whether it is or not, an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment?

STORY: High Court Surveys Child Pornography Law's Scope (Oct. 31, 2007)

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

Mendelsohn v. Sprint/United Management Company (06-1221)

Ellen Mendelsohn, 51, sued Sprint after she was fired in 2002 as the company downsized, but she said her age was the reason she was dismissed. A jury disagreed, after a judge barred testimony from other former employees who alleged similar discrimination.

QUESTION: May a court exclude "me, too" evidence from parties not in the suit, when the alleged discrimination occurred at the hands of officials other than the one involved in the plaintiff's suit?

EDUCATION

Bd. of Education of the City of New York v. Tom F. (06-637)

This important case could determine when school districts must pay for a private education for a child with learning disabilities, under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The school board argues it should be allowed to provide a specialized education for the child before being forced to pay for private schools.

QUESTION: Does IDEA permit tuition reimbursement where a child has not previously received special education from a public school?

BUSINESS

Stoneridge v. Scientific Atlanta (06-43)

What is billed as the most important business case of the year concerns whether aggrieved investors in security fraud class action suits can expand their targets to include other parties, such as vendors and accountants, who may have furthered a firm's fraudulant actions. President Bush intervened to insure that the official position of the government was to oppose the investors.

QUESTION: Can third-parties in a class-action securities liabilities suit be sued if they made no public statements to further another company's fraudulent actions?

STORY: Court Declines Enron Investors' Appeal (Jan. 23, 2008)

TWO ON DECK:

District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290)

Justices have not yet considered whether to take the city's request to set aside an appeals court decision that struck its virtual ban on handguns, the nation's toughest big-city anti-gun law. The case would present the court with a long awaited challenge to the meaning of the Second Amendment, and become one of the most anticipated cases of the year.

QUESTION: Does the city's ban on private handgun ownership violate the Second Amendment?

STORY: Justices To Rule On D.C. Gun Ban (Nov. 21, 2007)

Kennedy v. Louisiana (07-343)

Patrick Kennedy is the only man on death row in America for a non-homicide. He was convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter, and Louisiana is one of five states that allows the death penalty for a child rapist.

QUESTION: Does the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment allow the death penalty for a child rapist?