Today's Supreme Court Rulings
Quick hits from today's Supreme Court rulings - both interestingly enhance power of already powerful institutions (government and corporations) at the expense of the individual.
In MGM Studios v. Grokster (No. 04-480), the Court reversed 9-0 the lower court, in an opinion by Justice Souter. Justice Ginsburg concurred, joined by the Chief Justice and Justice Kennedy; and Justice Breyer concurred, joined by Justices Stevens and O'Connor.
Here is how it is being reported in the media: Court: File-Sharing Services May Be Sued:
Internet file-sharing services will be held responsible if they intend for their customers to use software primarily to swap songs and movies illegally, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, rejecting warnings that the lawsuits will stunt growth of cool tech gadgets such as the next iPod.
The unanimous decision sends the case back to lower court, which had ruled in favor of file-sharing services Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. on the grounds that the companies couldn't be sued. The justices said there was enough evidence of unlawful intent for the case to go to trial.
The other interesting case is the Court denied review in Miller v. U.S., 04-1507, Cooper and Time Magazine v. U.S., 04-1508 - the case involving the reporters protecting the felon who outed Valerie Plame. Here's how the media is reporting that, Supreme Court Won't Hear CIA Leak Case:
The Supreme Court rejected appeals Monday from two journalists who have refused to testify before a grand jury about the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.
The cases asked the court to revisit an issue that it last dealt with more than 30 years ago — whether reporters can be jailed or fined for refusing to identify their sources.
The justices' intervention had been sought by 34 states and many news groups, all arguing that confidentiality is important in news gathering.
Also decided today were two Ten Commandments cases - the Texas case, Van Orden v. Perry (03-1500), was affirmed as constitutional, while the Kentucky case, McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky (03-1693) was deemed unconstitutional because the displays were motivated by a religious purpose.
Check out SCOTUS Blog for the Full overview of today's cases and generally excellent commentary from lawyers who have argued extensively before the court.
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Some descriptive tags for this entry are: law politics ussc supremecourt.
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Some descriptive tags for this entry are: law, politics, supremecourt, ussc.
Mommy... what's a tag?
