Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-29-1988
Thompson v. Oklahoma - 487 U.S. 815 (1988) U.S. Supreme Court Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988) Thompson v. Oklahoma No. 86-6169 Argued November 9, 1987 Decided June 29, 1988 487 U.S. 815 CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF OKLAHOMA Syllabus Petitioner, when he was 15 years old, actively participated in a brutal murder. Because petitioner was a "child" as a matter of Oklahoma law, the District Attorney filed a statutory petition seeking to have him tried as an adult, which the trial court granted. He was then convicted and sentenced to death, and the Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma affirmed. Held: The judgment is vacated and the case is remanded. 724 P.2d 780, vacated and remanded. JUSTICE STEVENS, joined by JUSTICE BRENNAN, JUSTICE MARSHALL, and JUSTICE BLACKMUN, concluded that the "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibition of the Eighth Amendment, made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits the execution of a person wh...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Apr-27-1988
Hicks v. Feiock - 485 U.S. 624 (1988) U.S. Supreme Court Hicks v. Feiock, 485 U.S. 624 (1988) Hicks v. Feiock No. 86-787 Argued December 1, 1987 Decided April 27, 1988 485 U.S. 624 CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION THREE Syllabus After respondent stopped making $150 monthly child support payments to his ex-wife under a California state court order, he was served with an order to show cause why he should not be held in contempt on nine counts of failure to make the payments. At the contempt hearing, his defense that he was financially unable to make payments was partially successful, but he was adjudged in contempt on five counts; was sentenced to a 5-day jail term on each count, to be served consecutively; and was placed on probation for three years upon suspension of the sentence. As conditions of his probation, he was ordered to resume the monthly payments and to begin repaying $50 per month on his accumulated arrearages....
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-29-1988
Morrison v. Olson - 487 U.S. 654 (1988) U.S. Supreme Court Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988) Morrison v. Olson No. 87-1279 Argued April 26, 1988 Decided June 29, 1988 487 U.S. 654 APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Syllabus This case presents the question of the constitutionality of the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (Act). It arose when the House Judiciary Committee began an investigation into the Justice Department's role in a controversy between the House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with regard to the Agency's limited production of certain documents that had been subpoenaed during an earlier House Investigation. The Judiciary Committee's Report suggested that an official of the Attorney General's Office (appellee Olson) had given false testimony during the earlier EPA investigation, and that two other officials of that Office (appellees Schmults and Dinkins) ha...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jun-06-1988
..... . 348 . [ footnote 10 ] a similar issue was presented in vicksburg & meridian r. co. v. putnam, 118 u. s. 545 (1886), a tort action brought against a railroad by an injured passenger. the trial judge had instructed the jury to calculate the present value of the plaintiff's damages at the rate shown in standard annuity tables. this court held that such .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : May-02-1988
Bus. Electr. Corp. v. Sharp Electr. Corp. - 485 U.S. 717 (1988) U.S. Supreme Court Bus. Electr. Corp. v. Sharp Electr. Corp., 485 U.S. 717 (1988) Business Electronics Corp. v. Sharp Electronics Corp. No. 85-1910 Argued January 19, 1988 Decided May 2, 1988 485 U.S. 717 CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Syllabus Petitioner and another retailer (Hartwell) were authorized by respondent manufacturer to sell its electronic calculators in the Houston area. In response to Hartwell's complaints about petitioner's prices, respondent terminated petitioner's dealership. Petitioner brought suit in Federal District Court, alleging that respondent and Hartwell had conspired to terminate petitioner, and that such conspiracy was illegal per se under 1 of the Sherman Act. The court submitted a liability interrogatory to the jury asking whether there was an agreement or understanding between respondent and Hartwell to terminate petitioner's dealership b...
Tag this Judgment!Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Apr-20-1988
South Carolina v. Baker - 485 U.S. 505 (1988) U.S. Supreme Court South Carolina v. Baker, 485 U.S. 505 (1988) South Carolina v. Baker No. 94, Orig. Argued December 7, 1987 Decided April 20, 1988 485 U.S. 505 ON EXCEPTIONS TO REPORT OF SPECIAL MASTER Syllabus Section 310(b)(1) of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 removes the federal income tax exemption for interest earned on publicly offered long-term bonds (hereinafter referred to as bonds) issued by state and local governments (hereinafter referred to collectively as States) unless those bonds are issued in registered (as opposed to bearer) form. South Carolina invoked this Court's original jurisdiction, contending that 310(b)(1) is constitutionally invalid under the Tenth Amendment and the doctrine of intergovernmental tax immunity. A Special Master was appointed. After conducting hearings and taking evidence, he concluded that 310(b)(1) is constitutional, and recommended entering judgment for the def...
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