In two decisions Monday, the high court offers guidance on US sentencing guidelines. By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Federal judges have discretion to sentence individuals to prison terms that substantially depart from the punishment range established in the federal sentencing guidelines. In a pair of 7-to-2 decisions announced Monday, the US Supreme Court offered important guidance to federal judges who have been struggling to mete out sentences after the high court's 2005 ruling that said the sentencing guidelines established by Congress are no longer mandatory, but are now only advisory. [continues 973 words]
The Supreme Court Ruled Monday That School Officials Retain Discretion To Censor Student Speech That They Believe May Encourage Illegal Drug Use. Washington -- A high school principal did not violate the free speech rights of a student when she confiscated a 14-foot prank banner near school grounds during an outdoor school assembly. In an important First Amendment decision limiting student free speech, the US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that school administrators and teachers retain discretion to censor student speech that they believe may encourage illegal drug use. [continues 401 words]
The US Supreme Court Is Set to Hear the Case of an Alaska Teen Who Was Suspended After Unfurling a Banner Near School. A dispute over a student prank near a high school in Juneau, Alaska, is raising constitutional questions about student free speech and whether school officials can be sued for damages when they take action to muzzle a teenager's attempt at humor. On Monday, the US Supreme Court takes up a case involving a student-displayed banner that proclaimed: "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." [continues 938 words]
The Supreme Court Takes Up a Case Involving a New Mexico Sect That Could Be Important for Other Minority Religions. WASHINGTON - In a case with potential important significance for minority religious groups in America, the US Supreme Court this week takes up a clash between the nation's drug laws and a statute protecting religious liberty. At issue in the case set for oral argument Tuesday is the scope of the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The law requires the federal government to justify any measure that substantially burdens a person's ability to practice his or her religion. [continues 848 words]
WASHINGTON - Two California women have no right to use locally grown marijuana for medical purposes when federal drug statutes outlaw its use under any circumstances. In an important decision announced Monday dealing with the balance of governmental powers, the US Supreme Court ruled that the federal government has the authority under the US Constitution to override a state law permitting the medical use of marijuana. The 6-to-3 decision is a defeat for California and nine other states with similar medical marijuana laws. It is also a major setback for those medical patients who have come to rely on marijuana as part of their treatment. [continues 943 words]
In A Divided Ruling, Justices Strike Down Portions Of Federal Guidelines, Forcing A Redrawing Of The Sentencing System WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court has set the stage for a historic transformation of the criminal justice system in a ruling that requires federal judges to find a new way to mete out punishments to convicted criminals. The nation's highest court Wednesday struck down a portion of the federal sentencing guidelines system designed to help judges hand down similar punishments for similar crimes - a system that has been in operation in federal courthouses for 17 years. [continues 895 words]
WASHINGTON - When the US Supreme Court announces its decision in a case called Maryland v. Pringle sometime next year, it may become required reading for every American parent with a teenage child. That's because the court will decide whether police may arrest all passengers riding in a car in which hidden contraband is discovered. It doesn't matter that your son or daughter does not use narcotics or was unaware narcotics were in the car. The question being presented Monday in oral argument to the nation's highest court is whether people's mere presence in a car where someone has concealed drugs is enough to arrest everyone for possession of those drugs. [continues 843 words]
A Cocaine-Addicted Woman Was Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison in S. Carolina for Homicide by Child Abuse. WASHINGTON - A South Carolina woman sentenced to 12 years in prison for homicide as a result of suffering a stillbirth has lost a bid to reverse her conviction. In a one-line order issued Monday, the US Supreme Court let stand a South Carolina Supreme Court decision upholding her conviction for homicide by child abuse. The woman in question had used cocaine during her pregnancy. [continues 500 words]
The Supreme Court Hears A Narcotics Case That May Hinder The War On Terrorism. WASHINGTON - An Idaho drug-conspiracy case may greatly complicate the war on terrorism if the US Supreme Court affirms a federal appeals court ruling. At issue in a case to be heard Tuesday is whether conspiracy law applies when federal authorities intercept a drug shipment but then let it go forward in a sting operation. Federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials say the same undercover tactics are necessary to arrest and prosecute international terrorists before they are able to actually carry out their plans. They say that the decision in the drug-trafficking case will have an impact on terror cases as well. [continues 553 words]
WASHINGTON - Children attending public schools can be required to submit to random drug tests, even when school officials have no reason to suspect widespread use of illicit narcotics. In a major exception to Fourth Amendment prohibitions against suspicionless searches, the US Supreme Court has given a green light to public schools across the nation to use random drug-testing procedures on a wide variety of children. The high court said in a 5-to-4 decision announced Thursday that the deterrent effect of such drug testing was enough to overcome Fourth Amendment privacy protections. [continues 738 words]
High Court Hears Case Today on Whether Authorities Can Frisk Passengers for Drugs. WASHINGTON - A Greyhound bus traveling from Fort Lauderdale to Detroit makes a scheduled stop in Tallahassee, Fla. When passengers reboard, they are not alone. Two police officers dressed in civilian clothes move through the bus, asking riders about their travel plans and luggage. They say they're looking for drugs and illegal weapons. A third officer remains at the front, watching. Near the back of the bus, the officers encounter two men wearing heavy jackets on a warm day. The police ask for permission to search their luggage and then ask to pat them down for weapons. [continues 739 words]
A Supreme Court Ruling Suggests Tenants Have A Responsibility To Police Their Families. WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court has given its endorsement to a potentially powerful - if somewhat indiscriminate - weapon in the war on drugs. In a unanimous ruling yesterday, the nation's highest court upheld a provision of federal law that permits public-housing authorities to evict longtime tenants for the drug-related activity of family members or guests even when the tenants didn't know about it. "We hold that Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue," writes Chief Justice William Rehnquist in an 11-page decision. Federal law "requires lease terms that give local public housing authorities the discretion to terminate the lease of a tenant when a member of the household or a guest engages in drug-related activity, regardless of whether the tenant knew, or should have known, of the drug-related activity." [continues 549 words]
High Court Weighs Tests For Those In After-School Activities. WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court today will weigh how far public schools can go in imposing random drug tests on students who participate in extracurricular activities from cheerleading to the Future Farmers of America. The case involves Lindsay Earls, who wanted to sing in the school choir, march in the school band, and compete on her school's academic team. Instead, the high school sophomore found herself in the girl's washroom with three faculty members listening intently outside a stall as she attempted to fill a plastic vial. [continues 1002 words]
High Court Considers Legality of Evicting Residents for Relatives' Drug Offenses Washington - A grandmother who has lived in a public housing project in Oakland, Calif. for 30 years is ordered evicted from her apartment. The action is taken not because the grandmother has done anything wrong. Instead, she is losing her home because her grandson, unknown to her, smoked marijuana in the complex parking lot. Barbara Hill is one of four public housing tenants in Oakland who were ordered out of their homes because of someone else's wrongdoing of which they had no knowledge. [continues 837 words]
Case Before High Court Argues Whether Free-Speech Rights Extend To Permit Process. The Windy City Hemp Development Board makes no secret of its public-policy positions. Members believe marijuana should be legalized. They also believe they have a right to advocate their position by holding protest rallies in public parks. But in March 1997, the Chicago Park District turned down the group's application for a rally permit. Members responded with a lawsuit, claiming that the park-permit process in Chicago was being used as a form of censorship in violation of the First Amendment. [continues 858 words]
Justices Protect Privacy In A 5-To-4 Ruling Against The Use Of Thermal Imaging. The US Supreme Court has drawn the curtains, closed the blinds, and firmly shut the door on the unsupervised use of law-enforcement technology to detect crimes in private homes. The result: American homes are today more private than they were yesterday. In a major decision that strengthens privacy protections in the face of increasingly sophisticated law-enforcement snooping devices, the high court ruled yesterday that police must obtain a warrant from a neutral judge prior to using technology that reveals even relatively minor details about what's going on inside a private home. [continues 552 words]
Advocates argue today that 'medical necessity' excuses compliance with US law. There is no fundamental right under the US Constitution to consume illegal narcotics. When the nation's Founders wrote of "the blessings of liberty," they were not alluding to guaranteed consumption of recreational drugs deemed by federal regulators and national lawmakers to be devoid of healthful benefits. But what about people under the care of a physician who believes that smoking marijuana may help alleviate their suffering? Do those patients have a basic right to pursue the type of treatment they deem most appropriate, without interference or second-guessing from the federal government? [continues 734 words]
The Tribunal Ruled That Pregnant Moms Must Be Told If Test Results Will Be Turned Over To Law Officers. When Charleston, S.C., adopted a policy of testing pregnant women in hospitals for illegal drugs, they were trying to protect unborn babies from the possible effects of narcotics abuse. But the consequences for mothers who failed the tests - possible arrest - erupted into a firestorm. The US Supreme Court, ruling on the issue yesterday, said the city's drug-testing policy constituted unreasonable search and seizure. The decision, by a 6-to-3 vote, affirms privacy rights in a hospital setting. The justices said the expectant mothers have a constitutional right to be informed that results of the tests may be used against them. [continues 314 words]
US Supreme Court today begins weighing the use of technology in police searches. British authorities in Colonial America didn't use high-powered listening devices, satellite tracking systems, and keyword dragnets on the World Wide Web to solve suspected crimes against the English crown in the 1770s. They just broke down doors, rifled through a homeowner's personal papers, and used what they found as evidence. It was a highly efficient and effective investigative technique. But such clear abuses of privacy convinced the nation's Founding Fathers to write the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees a right to be free from "unreasonable searches and seizures." [continues 857 words]
High Court To Hear Arguments On Whether Random Narcotics Roadblocks Are Legal. You are in a car heading across town to an important meeting - late, as usual. On the highway ahead, you notice a flashing sign and a police officer waving all the cars off to the side of the road. An officer asks to see your license and registration and says you have been stopped at a narcotics checkpoint. While the officer verifies your paperwork, another officer leads a drug-sniffing dog around the car. [continues 675 words]
