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Justice Souter Ends A Distinguished Career As U.S. Supreme Court Concludes A Relatively Quiet Term
The Supreme Court concluded its 2008 Term, clearing the stage for the confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
> ACLU Summary of 2008's Major Civil Liberties-Related Cases

ACLU Releases Report On Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor
The ACLU offers an analysis of the civil liberties and civil rights record of President Obama's nominee to replace Justice David Souter.
> ACLU Report



SUPREME COURT CASES

CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Pearson v. Callahan (8/12/2008)
Whether, absent an emergency, the Fourth Amendment permits the police to enter a home without a warrant based on an informant's signal that criminal activity is taking place inside. DECIDED

Van de Kamp v. Goldstein (9/5/2008)
Whether someone who was falsely imprisoned for 24 years based on the untrue testimony of a criminal informant can sue senior administrators in the prosecutor's office for their failure to maintain an even rudimentary record system that would have disclosed impeachment information about the informant prior to trial. DECIDED

Montejo v. State of Louisiana (11/25/2008)
Whether the police may interrogate an indigent defendant who has been assigned counsel without counsel present on the theory that the defendant never formally indicated that he accepted the appointment. DECIDED

Herring v. United States (8/1/2008)
Whether the exclusionary rule requires the suppression of evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment when the Fourth Amendment violation was based on misinformation sent by law enforcement officials in another county. DECIDED

Arizona v. Gant (4/22/2009)
Whether the police may search a car without a warrant after someone who has been arrested for driving with a suspended license is already handcuffed and sitting in the back of a police cruiser. DECIDED

District Attorney's Office v. Osborne (2/2/2009)
Whether it violates due process to imprison someone who is actually innocent, and whether an inmate has a post-conviction right to obtain DNA evidence in the government's possession that could establish his innocence with total certainty. DECIDED

Vermont v. Brillon (12/29/2008)
Whether delays caused by systemic deficiencies in a state's indigent defense system can ever be charged against the state in deciding whether a criminal defendant has been denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial. DECIDED


DISCRIMINATION
Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee (8/29/2008)
Whether Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which generally prohibits sex discrimination in federally-funded schools, bars public school students from also challenging sex discrimination as a violation of the Constitution.DECIDED

Crawford v. Nashville (8/1/2008)
Whether employees who cooperate with an internal investigation of alleged sexual harassment are protected against retaliation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. DECIDED

Ricci v. DeStefano (3/25/2009)
Whether a public employer may lawfully refuse to certify the results of a promotional exam when it has a strong basis in evidence to believe that the test violates Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act because of its discriminatory impact on minorities or women. DECIDED


FREE SPEECH
FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (8/7/2008)
Whether the FCC improperly reversed its position without adequate justification by recently holding that "fleeting expletives" represent "indecent" speech that can be banned from the airwaves. DECIDED


IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS
Nken v. Mukasey (12/29/2008)
Whether federal law can be construed to make it more difficult for an alien facing removal from the country to obtain a temporary stay pending judicial review of the agency decision than to obtain a final judgment reversing the removal order. DECIDED

Nijhawan v. Holder (3/4/2009)
Whether an immigration judge can engage in a wide-ranging inquiry to determine whether a prior conviction counts as an aggravated felony for deportation purposes or is instead limited to considering the elements of the crime. DECIDED


STUDENTS' RIGHTS
Safford Unified School District v. Redding (3/25/2009)
Whether school officials acted unconstitutionally by strip searching a 13-year-old girl based on the uncorroborated accusation of a fellow student and, if so, whether the strip search was so clearly unconstitutional that plaintiff is entitled to damages. DECIDED


UNLAWFUL DETENTION
al-Marri v. Spagone (1/21/2009)
Whether a U.S. resident arrested in the U.S. can be indefinitely detained as an "enemy combatant" in a military brig without criminal charges or trial. CASE DISMISSED


VOTING RIGHTS
Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Mukasey (3/23/2009)
Whether Congress properly exercised its authority under the Fourteenth Amendment when, in 2006, it extended the pre-clearance requirements of the Voting Rights Act 25 years based on an extensive record of ongoing discrimination against minorities in voting. DECIDED

Bartlett v. Strickland (8/1/2008)
Whether minority voters who are deprived of the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice when a state court rejects a legislative district where coalition building has been successful can assert a vote dilution claim under the Voting Rights Act, even if minority voters do not represent 50 percent of the population in the proposed district? DECIDED


WOMENS' RIGHTS
Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee (8/29/2008)
Whether Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which generally prohibits sex discrimination in federally-funded schools, bars public school students from also challenging sex discrimination as a violation of the Constitution.DECIDED

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