Supreme Court Issues Two Opinions, Grants Cert 12/4/2007
The Supreme Court released two unanimous opinions today and granted three petitions for certiorari yesterday.
In a unanimous opinion written by Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court in Logan v. U.S. held that a carve-out to a sentencing enhancement provision of the Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984 that encompassed persons who had their "civil rights restored" did not embrace persons whose convictions did not result in the deprivation of their civil rights in the first place. More is available at SCOTUSBlog.
In a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court in CSX Transportation v. Georgia State Board of Equalization held that "railroads may challenge the accounting formulas used by states to measure the value of rail property" under a federal law that protects railroads from tax discrimination, according to SCOTUSBlog.
The Court granted certiorari in Rothgery v. Gillespie County regarding the point at which a suspect in police custody has the right to a legal counsel. According to the question presented, "In this case, petitioner was arrested and brought before a magistrate judge who informed petitioner of the accusation against him, found probable cause that he had committed the offense based on a police officer’s sworn affidavit, and committed him to jail pending trial or the posting of bail. The question presented is whether the Fifth Circuit correctly held . . . that adversary judicial proceedings nevertheless had not commenced, and petitioner’s Sixth Amendment rights had not attached, because no prosecutor was involved in petitioner’s arrest or appearance before the magistrate."
According to SCOTUSBlog, the Court also granted certiorari in Republic of the Philippines, et al. v. Pimentel, et al., "an appeal by the Philippine government in a dispute over control of the assets of the late president, Ferdinand E. Marcos," and in United States v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Company, "an appeal by the federal government over the right to sue the government for a tax refund in a constitutional lawsuit, if the taxpayer has failed to first pursue a tax refund claim with the Internal Revenue Service and then filed a refund claim in federal court."