Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, No. 07-591, __ U.S. __ (June 25, 2009)
Admission of government lab technicians' sworn "certificates of analysis" that substance taken from defendant was cocaine violated defendant's Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause right; the...
View ArticleLafler v. Cooper, No. 10–209, 566 U.S. __ (Mar. 21, 2012).
Addresses “how to apply Strickland’s [Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel] prejudice test where ineffective assistance results in a rejection of the plea offer and the defendant is...
View ArticleMissouri v. Fry, No. 10–444, 566 U.S. __ (Mar. 21, 2012).
The Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel imposes on defense counsel “the duty to communicate formal offers from the prosecution to accept a plea on terms and conditions that may...
View ArticleBailey v. United States, No. 11–770, __ U.S. __ (Feb. 19, 2013).
The Fourth Amendment rule allowing occupants of premises to be temporarily seized while a warrant is executed is limited to persons “in the immediate vicinity” of the premises to be searched.
View ArticleMissouri v. McNeely, No. 11–1425, __U.S. __ (April 17, 2013).
Rejects argument that “the natural metabolization of alcohol in the bloodstream presents a per se exigency that justifies an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement for nonconsensual...
View ArticleMaryland v. King, No. 12–207, __ U.S. __ (June 3, 2013).
When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense and they bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the...
View ArticleRodriguez v. United States, No. 13-9972, __ U.S. __ (April 21, 2015).
Fourth Amendment does not allow police to extend duration of a traffic stop, even for a “de minimis” time period, for reasons unrelated the matter for which the stop was made.
View ArticleObergefell v. Hodges, No. 14–556, __ U.S. __ (June 28, 2015).
Same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry.
View ArticleJohnson v. United States, No. 13-7120, ___ U.S. ___ (June 26, 2015).
Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA)’s definition of “violent felony” is unconstitutionally vague as to its residual clause, which covers any felony that “involves conduct that presents a serious potential...
View ArticleMontgomery v. Louisiana, No. 14-280, ___ U.S. ___, (Jan. 25, 2016).
Miller v. Alabama’s prohibition on mandatory life without parole for juvenile offenders announced a new substantive, not procedural, rule. Miller is therefore retroactive in cases of state collateral...
View ArticleWilliams v. Pennsylvania, No. 15–5040, ___U.S__ (June 9, 2016).
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice's denial of defendant's recusal motion and his subsequent judicial participation violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
View ArticlePena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, No. 15–606, __ US __ (March 6, 2017)
When a juror makes a clear statement indicating that he or she relied on racial stereotypes or animus to convict a criminal defendant, the trial court must consider the evidence of the juror's...
View Article
