Very Unusual Punishment
Some states offer sex offenders castration as an alternative punishment. Is it too cruel and unusual? ...[Continue Reading]
Fourteenth Amendment
A win for voting rights or a battle for another day?
Although the Supreme Court holds that the Constitution does not require voting district apportionment be based only on voting age citizens, it does not address the issue of whether voting age based apportionment itself is even allowed under the 14th Amendment. ...[Continue Reading]
Will gerrymandering in North Carolina ever come to an end?
Given North Carolina’s history with redistricting and its continuous struggle with gerrymandering district lines, a recent lawsuit regarding the 2011 redistricting forced North Carolina legislators to take another look at the district lines. ...[Continue Reading]
Public defenders – where art thou?
Budget cuts in funding for public defenders in New Orleans have caused many indigent citizens to be denied their Sixth Amendment constitutional right to appointed counsel. ...[Continue Reading]
Re-thinking the use of solitary confinement
A federal appeals court decides that an inmate in solitary confinement may sue based on a procedural due process claim ...[Continue Reading]
#LoveWins: So what happens now?
After a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in favor of gay marriage nationwide, where will the focus be for the LGBTQ movement? ...[Continue Reading]
Elonis v. United States: SCOTUS Determines Mental State is Necessary to Distinguish the Bad Acts From the Innocent
In another 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States chooses to withhold First Amendment analysis in this true threats case, but instead held that 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) requires a defendant intend to communicate a threat to be guilty of communicating threats via interstate commerce. ...[Continue Reading]
