Since retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has been sitting in on appeals panels around the country. As a substitute judge, Justice O’Connor has heard nearly 80 cases and written more than a dozen opinions for ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals U.S. Supreme Court

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter has opted for a $500,000 suburban New Hampshire home instead of his aging family farmhouse. According to The New York Times, Justice Souter has concerns that the farmhouse wasn’t structurally sound enough to ...

Tagged with: U.S. Supreme Court

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine this morning called a special session of the legislature for Aug. 19 to address the problems created by Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts. Mark Rubin, counsel to the governor, said, “A legislative fix doesn’t cure the problem, but ...

Tagged with: Criminal Supreme Court of Virginia U.S. Supreme Court

Paul W. Powell will not be executed tomorrow night. U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts granted a stay of execution today pending review of his petition for a writ of certiorari to the high court. The three-sentence order indicates that Powell ...

Tagged with: Criminal Supreme Court of Virginia U.S. Supreme Court

The execution of death row inmate Paul Warner Powell has been scheduled for tomorrow. The Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney will be among the witnesses, reports the Associated Press. Powell’s lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the ...

Tagged with: Commonwealth's Attorneys Criminal Gov. Tim Kaine U.S. Supreme Court

The remand of the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling in Magruder v. Commonwealth appeared to be the most likely result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday on the application of the Confrontation Clause to lab reports. The U.S. ...

Tagged with: Supreme Court of Virginia U.S. Supreme Court

Forensic scientists may be more frequent visitors to Virginia courtrooms as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday that laboratory reports are testimonial evidence and therefore invoke the Confrontation Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The court split 5-4, with ...

Tagged with: Criminal U.S. Supreme Court

Special education directors in Hampton and Newport News have little concern over a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing reimbursement for private special ed placements. According to the Daily Press, the high court recently ruled that parents of special education ...

Tagged with: U.S. Supreme Court

An 8-to-1 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court today held it was an unconstitutional intrusion for school officials to search a 13-year-old girl’s bra and underpants for a suspected prescription drug.  “[T]he content of the suspicion failed to match the ...

Tagged with: Search & Seizure U.S. Supreme Court

An 8-to-1 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court today held it was an unconstitutional intrusion for school officials to search a 13-year-old girl’s bra and underpants for a suspected prescription drug.  “[T]he content of the suspicion failed to match the ...

Tagged with: Search & Seizure U.S. Supreme Court