IN THIS MONITOR,
we provide summaries of a number of decisions handed down by the Supreme Court during the October 2002 term, which ended on October 5, 2003. The decisions covered a wide range of civil rights issues and related issues, from affirmative action, to the rights of gays and lesbians to equal treatment under the law, to bans on cross burning.
Inside.....
In the Courts
Supreme Court Addresses Redistricting Issues
On March 31, 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the power of federal courts to step in and draw voting district boundaries in cases where the legislative and the state judicial process have failed to do so. Beyond this, the nine justices were not able to come to agreement about the specifics of a proper remedy in this situation under the Voting Rights Act.
Supreme Court Issues Split Opinion on Fifth Amendment Protections
On May 27, 2003, a fractured Supreme Court held that police interrogation of a suspect in the absence of Miranda warnings does not give rise to a claim for damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983 if such a claim is based solely on violation of the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Supreme Court Sets Back Immigrant and Human Rights, Rules that Congress May Order Detention of Noncitizens Without Bond
On April 29, 2003, the Supreme Court upheld a 1996 immigration law that requires the detention, with no possibility of release on bond, of noncitizens who are facing deportation for various criminal offenses. The Court's ruling in the case, Demore v. Kim, was viewed as a significant blow to the rights of noncitizens, and a reaffirmation of Congress' broad power to "make rules as to aliens that would be unacceptable if applied to citizens."
Supreme Court Addresses Affirmative Action in Higher Education
On June 23, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled in two split decisions that institutions of higher education may use race as a factor in admissions provided they give individualized consideration to each application.
Supreme Court Rules that State Employees are Covered by Family and Medical Leave Act
On May 27, 2003, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that notwithstanding a claim of sovereign immunity, state employees are fully covered under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and may recover money damages if the state fails to comply with the family-care provision of the Act.
Supreme Court Holds that Native American Tribes are not "Persons" Eligible to Bring §1983 Suits
On May 19, 2003, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous judgment in the case of Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians, holding that due to their sovereign immunity, Native American tribes, as a matter of law, were not "persons" eligible to bring suit under United States Code § 1983.
Supreme Court Vindicates Rights of Gays and Lesbians to Equal Treatment under the Law
On June 26, 2003, the Supreme Court held 6-3 that a Texas statute criminalizing same-sex sexual activity violates the right to liberty under the Due Process Clause of the Constitution.
Supreme Court Clarifies Habeas Corpus Rules
On February 25, 2003, the Supreme Court lowered the barriers faced by inmates seeking to challenge their criminal convictions by making it easier to appeal the denial of federal habeas corpus relief.
Supreme Court Renders Mixed Outcome Regarding Government Liability for Breach of Trust in its Management of Resources Belonging to Native Americans
On March 4, 2003, the Supreme Court handed down two decisions addressing whether the United States government could be held liable for a breach of fiduciary obligations with respect to its management of certain tribally-owned resources. The outcomes in the two cases were different, however.
Supreme Court Upholds Cross Burning Ban
On April 7, 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a Virginia statute that criminalized cross burning with the intent to intimidate, finding that the statute acceptably punished expressive conduct that constitutes a "true threat" meant to place a person or group of persons in fear of bodily harm or death.
