Media accounts of decisions by SCOTUS concerning voting rights are often devoid of reference to the language of the statute under interpretation. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 (subsequently amended in 1982 and 2006) seems, on… Read More ›
SCOTUS
Policing the Police
Civilian oversight of state and local law enforcement has largely been characterized by benign neglect. The United States has been debited by its English heritage with a significant social and cultural heritage with respect to the present relationship among law… Read More ›
I Hear Ya Knockin’
This month, Virginia became one of three states to ban “no knock” warrants. Thirteen states have legislated in favor of this police power while the remainder deem such searches permissible with court approval. The procedure has had a troubled history,… Read More ›
RBG Shines in Dissent
Editors’ Note: Adapted from Vox, September 18, 2020. One of the most compelling examples of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s devotion to equality and the rule of law is her dissent in the 2013 case Shelby County… Read More ›
Upon Being a Ass, a Idiot
Published in 1838 by Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist features Mr. Bumble, who is told by a court that it is presumed that his wife acted under his direction. Bumble replies “if the law supposes that, the law is a ass,… Read More ›
Around the Novahood
PWC ESTABLISHES PUBLIC DEFENDER Virginia’s second-most-populous jurisdiction, and the only Virginia county that is majority-people of color, Prince William County, has lacked a public defender’s office. It relied, instead on a system of poorly compensated, court-appointed counsel to represent low-income defendants…. Read More ›
Walking the Line at the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court’s political troubles began many years ago with the appointment of Earl Warren as Chief Justice, a move the so disappointed President Eisenhower that he is purportedly to have said it was a big mistake. Over the decades,… Read More ›
Kagan on Gerrymandering
Editors’ Note: History has a way of teaching us that the wisdom of SCOTUS dissents evolve to become the rule of law. Excerpted from HuffPost, October 28, 2019. By Sam Levine In a 5-4 decision this past June, the U.S…. Read More ›
Justice Stevens and Justice in Virginia
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who passed at age 99 on July 16, insisted that he was not a liberal jurist but a conservative sitting on a bench that over time had drifted to the right, leaving him crowned… Read More ›
SCOTUS Busts Virginia GOP Gerrymander Challenge
On June 17, 2019, SCOTUS rejected a GOP-led appeal on a gerrymandering case that shuttled back and forth in the Commonwealth for a few years. In Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill, the court found that the appellants lacked standing… Read More ›