Nina Totenberg

Why The FISA Court Is Not What It Used To Be

Nina Totenberg — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:07:00 +0000

The furor over recently exposed government surveillance programs has posed an abundance of political challenges for both President Obama and Congress. Relatively unmentioned in all of this, however, is the role of the courts — specifically, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, known as the FISA court, and how its role has changed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Obama has said that there are tradeoffs between privacy and security in an age of international terrorism.

Former Mass. Chief Justice On Life, Liberty And Gay Marriage

Nina Totenberg — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:25:00 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court, on the brink of issuing two same-sex-marriage decisions, is facing a question that Margaret Marshall had to resolve for her state a decade ago, as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Law Enforcement Celebrates Supreme Court's DNA Ruling

Nina Totenberg — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:43:00 +0000

A divided Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday that it's constitutional for police to take DNA swabs from suspects who are arrested but not yet convicted of a crime. The court compared such DNA sampling to fingerprinting when a suspect is booked.

Supreme Court Rules DNA Can Be Taken After Arrest

Nina Totenberg — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:53:00 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that police can routinely take DNA samples from people who are arrested but not yet convicted of a crime, and see if the DNA matches any samples from unsolved crimes in a national database.

The 5-to-4 decision split the court's conservative and liberal blocs, with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia authoring a fiery dissent.

Supreme Court Declines Review Of Planned Parenthood Case

Nina Totenberg — Tue, 28 May 2013 19:11:00 +0000

In the first Planned Parenthood defunding case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices have refused to disturb a lower court decision that barred Indiana from stripping Medicaid payments to the organization.

More than a dozen states have enacted or considered laws that bar Planned Parenthood from receiving any Medicaid payments for treating poor women.

Srinivasan's Confirmation First For D.C. Circuit In 7 Years

Nina Totenberg — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:40:00 +0000

For the first time in seven years, the U.S. Senate has confirmed a judge to sit on the important federal appeals court for the District of Columbia. The Senate unanimously confirmed Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan on Thursday for the seat previously held by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Srinivasan was confirmed because he had huge bipartisan support in the legal community and because he served in both the Bush and Obama administrations, while having no record in partisan politics.

Justice Sotomayor Takes Swing At Famed Baseball Case

Nina Totenberg — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:39:00 +0000

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's wicked, waggish sense of humor — and knowledge of baseball — were on full display Wednesday, when she presided over a re-enactment of Flood v. Kuhn, the 1972 case that unsuccessfully challenged baseball's antitrust exemption.

The event, put on by the Supreme Court Historical Society, took place in the court chamber, and as Sotomayor took her place at the center of the bench, normally the chief justice's chair, she remarked puckishly, "This is the first time I've sat here.

Supreme Court Sides With Monsanto In Seed Patent Case

Nina Totenberg — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:16:00 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that when farmers use patented seed for more than one planting in violation of their licensing agreements, they are liable for damages.

Billed as David vs. Goliath, the case pitted an Indiana farmer against the agribusiness behemoth Monsanto.

Almost all the soybean farmers in the U.S. use seed that is genetically altered to be resistant to weed killers like Roundup. That allows farmers to spray for weeds without killing the soybeans.

'Show Boat' Steams On, Eternally American

Nina Totenberg — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:01:00 +0000

It's been more than eight decades since Show Boat -- the seminal masterpiece of the American musical theater — premiered on a stage in Washington, D.C. Now the sprawling classic is back, in a lush production put on by the Washington National Opera.

Based on Edna Ferber's epic best-selling novel, Show Boat was nothing like the frothy musicals and scantily clad Broadway revues of its time.

Justices Say U.S. Improperly Deported Man Over Marijuana

Nina Totenberg — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:27:00 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a longtime legal resident of the United States was improperly deported for possession of a small amount of marijuana. By a 7-2 vote, the justices said that it defies common sense to treat an offense like this as an "aggravated felony" justifying mandatory deportation.

Adrian Moncrieffe immigrated with his parents to the United States from Jamaica in 1984. He was 3 years old at the time. He and his family were all legal residents.

Supreme Court Backs Warrants For Blood Tests In DUI Cases

Nina Totenberg — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 23:10:00 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that police must generally obtain a warrant before subjecting a drunken-driving suspect to a blood test. The vote was 8-to-1, with Justice Clarence Thomas the lone dissenter.

Tyler McNeely was pulled over late at night after a state trooper observed him driving erratically. When McNeely refused to take a Breathalyzer test, the officer drove him to a local hospital and ordered blood drawn for an alcohol test.

Adoption Case Brings Rare Family Law Dispute To High Court

Nina Totenberg — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:52:00 +0000

Take the usual agony of an adoption dispute. Add in the disgraceful U.S. history of ripping Indian children from their Native American families. Mix in a dose of initial fatherly abandonment. And there you have it — a poisonous and painful legal cocktail that goes before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

At issue is the reach of the Indian Child Welfare Act, known as ICWA.

Supreme Court Asks: Can Human Genes Be Patented?

Nina Totenberg — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:01:00 +0000

Same-sex marriage got huge headlines at the Supreme Court last month, but in the world of science and medicine, the case being argued on Monday is far more important. The lawsuit deals with a truly 21st century issue — whether human genes may be patented.

Myriad Genetics, a Utah biotechnology company, discovered and isolated two genes — BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 — that are highly associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad patented its discovery, giving it a 20-year monopoly over use of the genes for research, diagnostics and treatment.

Supreme Court Notes: Bugs, Pumps And Stolen Credit Card Numbers

Nina Totenberg — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:52:00 +0000

NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg sends us some odds and ends from a very momentous week in the Supreme Court.

Hear all that sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and nose blowing during this week's same-sex oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court?

That was Justice Antonin Scalia, apparently sick as a dog but reporting for duty nonetheless. Last week it was Justice Sonia Sotomayor who looked like hell and was sniffling her way through oral arguments.

Justices Cast Doubt On Federal Defense Of Marriage Act

Nina Totenberg — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:43:00 +0000

In the wake of the Supreme Court arguments Wednesday on the Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex marriage supporters have reason to be optimistic. Known as DOMA, the law bars federal benefits for legally married same-sex couples, even though those same benefits are automatically given to heterosexual married couples.

The second same-sex marriage case to be argued in as many days, the DOMA challenge was brought by Edith Windsor, whose marriage to Thea Spyer was legal in New York.