Tuesday round-up
Briefly:
- Lyle Denniston reports for this blog that the Electronic Privacy Information Center has asked the Court to nullify an order by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that authorized the government to collect data from customers in the United States as part of a global surveillance operation.
- Also at this blog, Ronald Collins previews Adam Liptak’s newly released e-book, To Have and Uphold: The Supreme Court and the Battle for Same-Sex Marriage, which presents a narrative of the same-sex marriage cases the Court decided two weeks ago – United States v. Windsor (Defense of Marriage Act) and Hollingsworth v. Perry (Proposition 8).
- Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic reports on the case of Warren Hill, a Georgia death row inmate who has asked the Court to stay his execution – currently scheduled for next Monday – on the ground that he is “mentally retarded beyond a reasonable doubt.” In 2002, the Court held in Atkins v. Virginia that the execution of an individual who is mentally retarded is cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment.
- At The Washington Post, David Fahrenthold reports on the continuing case of Marvin Horne, the raisin farmer who challenged a federal law requiring him to turn over part of his crop without compensation or else pay a fine. This Term, in Horne v. Department of Agriculture, the Court unanimously held that the farmer could bring his “takings” claim in a regular federal district court without first paying the fine assessed him for violating the regulation.
Disclosures: Tejinder Singh of Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys work for or contribute to this blog in various capacities, was among the counsel on an amicus brief filed by international human rights advocates in support of the respondents in Hollingsworth v. Perry, while the firm’s Kevin Russell was among the counsel on an amicus brief filed by former senators in support of Edith Windsor in United States v. Windsor.
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