Supreme Court News

WASHINGTON - John J. O'Connor III, the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, has died. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - John O'Connor, the husband of retired US Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor, died Wednesday in Arizona after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, the US high court announced. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - A man from Tajikistan seeking his freedom from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is challenging a practice among federal judges here who are short-circuiting the cases of some long-time detainees. Full Story »

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The U.S. Supreme Court has reinstated the death penalty against an Ohio man who killed and mutilated a man he met in a gay bar in 1985, rejecting a claim that his lawyers erred during the sentencing phase of his trial. Full Story »

RICHMOND, Va. - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block Tuesday's scheduled execution of sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - A seemingly divided Supreme Court wrestled Monday with whether teenagers can be locked away forever for their crimes. The question arose in two cases involving Florida men who are serving life prison terms with no chance of parole for crimes they committed as teenagers. Their lawyers argue that the sentences for people so young are cruel and unusual, in violation of the Constitution, because young people have greater capacity to change. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A deeply divided US Supreme Court opened hearings Monday into whether juveniles can be sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes that do not involve murder. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant on Monday to make it unconstitutional for any juvenile who commits a crime other than murder to be sentenced to life in prison without possible release. Full Story »

States where juveniles serve life terms Full Story »

Washington - A sharply divided US Supreme Court on Monday debated whether to invalidate state laws that permit juveniles to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for nonhomicide crimes. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Supreme Court will Monday wrestle with the merits of convicting juveniles who have not committed murder to life in prison without the possibility of parole -- a fate shared by 109 US prisoners, almost all of whom are non-white. Full Story »

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an ethics investigation into Gov. Mark Sanford's travel must be made public, clearing the way for lawmakers considering impeachment to review a report on the probe. Full Story »

Washington - The US Supreme Court on Wednesday took up the difficult issue of what to do about unscrupulous prosecutors willing to induce false testimony and hide exculpatory evidence to convict innocent defendants. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two men wrongly imprisoned for life and a third still facing the death penalty argued before the Supreme Court Wednesday that their sentences were the result of judicial misconduct and negligence. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Lawyers for the sniper whose deadly 2002 shooting spree terrorized the US capital region urged the Supreme Court Wednesday to suspend his execution next week, arguing he had been badly represented. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed worried that allowing people to sue prosecutors who fabricate evidence to win convictions might chill other prosecutions — even if those prosecutors are doing their jobs correctly and honestly. Full Story »

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two Republican lawmakers advising Ohio's Democratic governor on changes to the state's lethal injection process say it shouldn't be hard to fix the system. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - He's a right-leaning New Jersey native with a lifelong love of the Phillies. She's a liberal New Yorker who grew up near Yankee Stadium. They're eying each other warily these days from opposite ends of the Supreme Court bench. Full Story »