Supreme court

4 Things You Need to Know If the Police Try To Search Your Phone

In a rare unanimous Supreme Court decision yesterday, all nine Justices agreed that, yep, searching your phone without a warrant is indeed illegal. So if a police officer ever does try to dig through your digital dirt unlawfully, this is what you need to do. The often controversial Chief Justice John Roberts summed the whole…

Should You Go to Jail For Making Threats on Facebook?

The Supreme Court announced that it will hear the appeal of Anthony Elonis, a man convicted and sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for making threats over Facebook—threats that were often in the form of rap lyrics—according to The Morning Call, the local newspaper covering the case. Elonis claims his threats to kill…

The Supreme Court Will Consider What Defines “Pregnancy”

Can a corporation claim to have religious beliefs? The Supreme Court will rule on that contentious question later this year. To answer, the justices may also have to address whether human life begins when an egg is fertilized, or when that egg is implanted in a womb. The case, Sebelius vs. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.,…

Aereo, the amazing watch-broadcast-TV-anywhere-via-internet company, turned off service in Utah and Denver today. It’s the latest in a long-drawn-out battle over whether the service is legal. The major networks will take the Aereo showdown to the Supreme Court next month. [The Salt Lake Tribune via Engadget]

Warrant or No, Cops Can Use Aluminum Foil To Block Smartphone Wiping

The legal debate over whether police need a warrant to search a suspect’s cellphone is more than just raging on — it’s headed to the Supreme Court. But even if the nation’s highest court decides a warrant is needed, the authorities could still block you from remote-wiping your phone while they wait for the legal…

New Yorker’s Bert and Ernie Tenderly Watch Gay Marriage Decision

America is delighting to the current New Yorker cover, which shows Sesame Street same-sex roommates Bert and Ernie in a tender moment during the big gay marriage news from the Supreme Court.

The Not-So-Long Struggle For Gay Marriage

Not so long ago, gay marriage was still so controversial that California passed an anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative. How did all of this happen so quickly? Everybody is gay now, that’s how it happened. Go back in time to the mid-2000s and relive the melodrama all over again. http://gawker.com/so-you-want-to-get-gay-married-589200633

Supreme Court Decides Racist States Free To Change Voting Laws Again

By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The states with long histories of racism—specifically, the southern states where black humans were kept as slaves who could be legally bought, sold, raped and murdered—have had federal oversight since 1965 to protect minority voters. That’s over now. https://jezebel.com/scotus-declares-racism-over-strikes-down-section-of-vo-572129965 This…

No Proof-of-Citizenship Required to Vote Says US Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that states can’t ask for US citizenship proof, striking down a 2004 Arizona state law in a 7-2 vote. From now on, would-be voters only need to sign an statement saying they are citizens and provide with a photo identification method such as their driver’s license.

US Supreme Court: Human Genetic Material Can’t Be Patented

Big news from the east side of Capitol Hill: It’s not okay to patent genetic material taken from the human body. Or at least, it’s not okay in the eyes of the nation’s highest court. SCOTUS took on the controversial and somewhat futuristic case earlier this year, and with all the torrid discussion about updating…

Nicely Done: US Supreme Court Slaps Down Challenge to Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Thank the gods. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court had the good sense to ignore a case that would have prevented the government from funding embryonic stem cell research. Here’s why their decision was a very good idea. https://gizmodo.com/can-we-bring-the-greek-gods-back-please-5974126 Illustration by Andrea Danti via Shutterstock First, some background. When Barack Obama took office in 2009, backed…

The FBI Can’t Find Many of Its GPS Trackers Now That They’re Turned Off

The US Supreme Court had outlawed the warrantless use of GPS trackers so the FBI complied by shutting down all its devices but now is apparently having trouble actually retrieving the hardware. Because the GPS units are turned off. And the FBI has no idea where they are unless they’re on. The Court ruled in…

The Supreme Court Pulled a Miracle for Your Privacy

The highest court of the land scored a victory for your privacy versus the cops this week, but the worst threats of digital surveillance remain standing. The good news? These justices aren’t backing down anytime soon. The court ruled Monday in US v Jones that cops who’d placed a GPS tracking device on a suspected…

Supreme Court: Warrantless GPS Tracking Is Unconstitutional

The Supreme Court just shut down a major tech controversy: police planting a GPS bug without your knowledge or the approval of a judge. By a unanimous decision, the court said such warrantless tracking is illegal. This is big. The case originated with a Maryland drug dealer whose car was nailed with a GPS tracker—and…

Supreme Court Gives the Go Ahead for Re-Copyrighting Public Domain Works

You’ve got to be kidding me. The US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Congress can remove works from the public domain and re-copyright them in order to bring the the pieces into compliance with international copyright schemes. Yeah, because that doesn’t run completely against the spirit of copyright law or anything. For one reason or…

The Ohio Supreme Court’s Completely Batshit Insane Attempt to Define the Word Photocopier

Call it a photocopier or a generic xerox. We all know exactly what we’re talking about. Unless you’re Ohio state employee Lawrence Patterson, who last year, in one of the most bizarre legal arguments ever, claimed to have no idea. Or, if he did have an idea, was being an intentionally giant pain in the…

Supreme Court Hearing Its First Case About Genetically Modified Crops

The U.S. Supreme Court has been hearing arguments on whether a genetically engineered pesticide-resistant alfalfa violates the National Environmental Policy Act. The case pits organic farmers against Monsanto, whose genetically altered alfalfa could spread its genes to neighboring crops, via cross-pollination and prevent them from being able to label them as “organic.” This is the…

Supreme Court Confused About Tech? Not All Of Them!

Befuddled old judges? Not quite! Turns out Roberts is “the strongest proponent of Fourth Amendment protection” in City of Ontario v. Quon, a case that will affect the future of privacy for electronic communications. It’s not a dumb question! [DCDicta]

Supreme Court OKs DVR-In-The-Cloud Concept

Hollywood apparently tried to make a federal case about Cablevision launching a virtual DVR, a cable box with no local hard drive that still lets you “record” shows to watch later, and even fast forward through commercials. Hollywood studios got mad because they deemed it unfair re-broadcasting of content. The Supreme Court looked at the…

Lady Vice President by Year 2000 (1955)

The November 21, 1955 Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Fairbanks, AK) ran a short piece with the predictions of Mrs. Ivy Baker Priest. She predicted that by the year 2000 there would be three female members of the Supreme Court and a lady vice president. Priest also predicted that half of congress would be female. Sonia Sotomayor…