Supreme Court 2004
The United States Supreme Court, the highest federal court, is made up of nine judges. The judges are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate and appointed for life. The Court reviews decisions made by lower courts and its decisions are final after a majority vote. Recently, the supreme court ended its term with many controversial and significant decisions. Ruled by a 6-3 vote, the terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts. Ruled by an 8-1 vote, the judges decided that the Bush administration could not detain Yaser Hamdi as an enemy combatant and that Jose Padilla should file his appeal in South Carolina , not New York. Without exactly
Ruled 5-4, the supreme court forbade a judge in a jury trial to be able to act alone when adding more time onto a convicts sentence. Every judge voted that medical patients cannot earn large damage awards in court if their HMOs won't pay for the recommended medical treatment. The judges closed off appeals for over 100 death row inmates, paralleling an earlier ruling that judges can't determine by themselves whether a killer should be put to death. The controversial internet pornography decision ruled that a 1998 law which hid children from accidently finding porn on the web was probably unconstitutional, which requires more review of the law. This might lead to access codes for adults who want to view certain material. stating whether "under God" is constitutional, the court ruled 8-0 that the Californian that challenged the oath had no legal authority to speak for his daughter. A turn from the court's usual religious support, the judges decided that states don't have to underwrite the religious training of students who plan to have a career in the ministry. The sixth decision protects the current administration by stating that details about the Vice President's energy task force do not have to be revealed until after the election which was a "paramount necessity of protecting the executive branch from vexatious litigation". For disabilities rights, the Supreme Court rules that handicapped people can sue if states ignore the civil rights law that protects their rights (such as the case where a paralyzed man had to crawl up the steps of a court house because there was no elevator) In the eleventh decision, the judges ruled 5-4 that police can't learn information from their arrested suspects and only then tell them of their right to remain silent, a law which was basically stated in the Miranda v. The 12th and final ruling of the US Supreme Court for 2004 was probably the most controversial. It was stated that when rooting out corruption, limitations are placed on the first amendment, free speech. In the eight ruling, the judges decided 5-4 to allow a 2002 campaign finance law to apply to the 2004 election.
Common topics in this essay:
Supreme Court,
Vice President's,
Carolina York,
Guantanamo Bay,
Miranda Arizona,
supreme court,
Yaser Hamdi,
Jose Padilla,
judges decided,
ruled 5-4,
ruling judges,
|
Acceptance Essays
