Constitutional Law

The High Court's String of Unanimous Decisions

The Supreme Court yesterday issued five unanimous decisions, including Crawford v. Nashville, involving the federal civil rights law’s protection of workers against employment retaliation. David J. Garrow, a senior research fellow at the University of Cambridge, tells the Legal Times’ Tony Mauro that the court’s “rulings send a striking message of judicial consensus while belying any presumption of ideological division or conflict.” Mauro notes, however, that it is likely too early to discern a trend, noting that unanimous decision are easier to “wrap up early in the term.”

The Court’s other unanimous decisions were:

·         Arizona v. Johnson, in which the Court found that during a routine traffic stop, police can search the vehicle’s passenger as long as they believe person is armed and dangerous. See analysis from Scotusblog on the case here.

·         U.S. v. Eurodif, where the Court bolstered the U.S. Commerce Department’s ability to regulate materials that are enriched overseas and shipped back to the U.S.

·         Van de Kamp v. Goldstein, where the Court ruled that a California man convicted on false testimony cannot sue top prosecutors involved in his conviction.

·         Kennedy v. DuPont Plan Administrator, in which the high court concluded that the company’s retirement plan controlled distribution of pensions in an employee dispute with a divorced spouse.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on January 27, 2009 (boomark / email).