Pilots are required to learn and use checklists for every aspect of flight, from preparing for take-off to dealing with equipment malfunction. It was a checklist that helped Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeffery Skiles safely land their US Airways flight in the Hudson River after the plane’s engines were damaged by a flock [...]
Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own…. Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not. -- Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr The Supreme Court on [...]
Could the death penalty – never far from the Supreme Court’s docket – be nearing its demise? Few issues have caused the Court more discomfort since the turn of the Century. While most states (31) authorize the death penalty, few of them actually use it. As of January 1, 2018, there were 2,816 death row [...]
Judge Richard Posner, Circuit Judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, believes the Supreme Court needs a shakeup. “If you had 19 members you would inevitably have more diversity,” he told Professor Luigi Zingales during a recent discussion [...]
Cockle Legal Briefs employs attorneys, paralegals, typesetters, printers, accountants, and salesmen to produce about 1,300 Supreme Court briefs a year and files documents in every Federal court of appeals in the country. Whatever they do, whatever position they fill, Cockle people share a passion for helping their clients. Meet some of the people who work [...]
While not compensated with the same seven-figure salaries as some attorneys who appear before the Court, Supreme Court Justices are well compensated and receive a bevy of job-related benefits. According to the latest figures, Chief Justice Roberts earns an annual salary of $255,500 while Associate Justices receive $244,400 per year. By comparison, the President [...]
Part Two: Filings In our first part of this three-part series, we looked at the Bench and the Bar. Today, we address filing in the Supreme Court. A. Filings In a typical term, more than 8,000 petitions are filed. Approximately 6,500 of these petitions are meritless In Forma Pauperis filings and 1,500 are booklet [...]
Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument regarding racial gerrymandering in two southern states: Virginia (Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections, No. 15-680) and North Carolina (McCrory v. Harris, No. 15-1262). The topic was brought before the Supreme Court earlier this year in Wittman v. Personhuballah, No. 14-1504, however, the Justices dismissed [...]
Donald Trump’s presidency will undoubtedly have a lasting effect on the shape of the Supreme Court. Since 1789, there have been 112 justices on the Supreme Court. Having the opportunity to appoint a new justice is one of the prize opportunities for a president. With the right young justice, a president can influence American [...]
Official portrait of President Barack Obama on Jan. 13, 2009.(Photo by Pete Souza) President Barack Obama has publicly outlined the traits he seeks in a new Supreme Court Justice. Via a post at SCOTUSblog.com Wednesday morning entitled “A Responsibility I Take Seriously,” Obama revealed the characteristics he is looking for in a [...]