Current Event

Court accepts more than a dozen new cases for 2007 Term

September 25, 2007

The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted seventeen new cases for the upcoming Term, bringing to 43 the number of cases it will hear in the coming months.

Among the cases taken Tuesday is a challenge to lethal injection filed by two Kentucky inmates. The case, Baze v. Rees, No. 07-5439, is the first time the Court will squarely consider the argument that capital punishment by lethal injection violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The Court has also agreed to decide whether the Virginia Supreme Court was correct when it held that police erred by searching the car of a man who was stopped for driving on a suspended license. Although many state and federal courts permit such searches, and allow the evidence seized to be used during trial, the Virginia high court disagreed. The case is Virginia v. Moore , No. 06-1082.

Among the other cases accepted today are one challenging patent holders' right to seek royalty fees from more than one company in the chain of supply that uses the patented product. The case, Quanta Computer Inc v. LG Electronics Inc., No. 06-937, has drawn intense scrutiny from techology companies. The Court has also agreed to decide whether an Indiana voter identification law discourages poor and minority voters from casting ballots. The issue is raised in Crawford v. Marion County Elec. Bd. and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita, Nos. 07-21 and 07-25.

http://www.acsblog.org/news-and-announcements-us-supreme-court-opens-20072008-term.html