Wednesday, October 07, 2009

The cases they won't hear

You may remember the US Supreme Court as those brainy legal scholars who brought us Plessy v Ferguson and McCain Feingold.

But actually the cases the court won't hear may be as important as those they will.

Reader Jeremy with the article......
The term's opening is also the day for the court to turn down litigants. The justices released a list of more than 1,800 appeals that they turned down without comment.

In an abortion-related case, the court turned down a pro-adoption group called Choose Life Illinois that said it had a free-speech right to have "Choose Life" license plates. The state refused and said it did not want to get involved in the abortion controversy. (Choose Life vs. White)

The court rejected an appeal from a Florida youth who said he had a right to sit silently during the Pledge of Allegiance at school. Florida law says students can be excused from this ritual only with the parents' permission. (Frazier vs. Smith)

The court turned away a free-speech appeal from high school students in Tennessee who said they had a right to wear T-shirts displaying a Confederate flag. (Barr vs. LaFron)

The court refused a request from the Catholic archdiocese in Bridgeport, Conn., seeking to block the release of files on priests accused of sexual abuse. A state court had ordered the release, and the church argued, unsuccessfully, that this would violate its rights under the 1st Amendment. (Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp. vs. New York Times)

More......

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