Tag Archives: Supreme Court

Farmers cannot collect and plant second-generation seeds produced by patented genetically modified crops, regardless of how they obtained the original seeds, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. Indiana farmer Vernon Bowman thought he had found a work-around for agribusiness giant Monsanto’s famously strict control of their Roundup Ready soybean seeds, which are modified to resist herbicides. Normally, a farmer using the GMO product must by law buy a new batch of seeds from Monsanto every year in lieu of saving seeds …

The days of putting convicted criminals to death in the United States could be on the wane. Six states have gotten rid of capital punishment in the last six years, while more could be on the way. Most recently, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley last week signed a law abolishing the death penalty in the state, while Delaware’s House of Representatives considered but put aside for now a bill that would do the same after it was passed by the state …

Last year, in an attempt to rein in the harshest punishments for minors convicted of major crimes, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not impose mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole for juvenile defendants. The Court’s rulings in Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs have created new challenges in the handling of juvenile sentencing for states across the nation. Missouri’s Supreme Court heard two appeals last week for juveniles who were convicted for life, out of …

Suspicion of driving under the influence is not grounds in and of itself for police to draw blood from a suspect without first acquiring a warrant, the Supreme Court ruled today. In Missouri v. McNeely, the Court upheld a Missouri State Supreme Court ruling that police could only take a blood test without a warrant in an emergency or under exigent circumstances. A person’s blood alcohol content naturally dropping over time does not count. “The question presented here is whether the …

A federal judge on Apr. 9 rejected the plea of Amish leader Samuel Mullet Sr. to leave prison while he appeals his hate crime conviction for leading a group of angry Amish in hair-shearing attacks in 2011 on others in their group whom they viewed as insufficiently devout.   Still a Danger  The judge ruled that Mullet is a danger to his community, reportedly saying that his authority over his followers poses a threat that they would commit crimes again …