Unanimous Supreme Court decision that parts of human genes as naturally occurring phenomena cannot be patented by corporations.  The decision reversed three decades of patent awards.  From the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University

5-4 Supreme Court decision that tougher sentencing guidelines, enacted after a crime is committed, can’t be used to justify a tougher sentence.  From the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University

Friend of the court brief filed by library groups to support established library practices and the concept of fair use in treatment of copyrighted works.  From the Library Copyright Alliance

5-4 Supreme Court decision that police can take DNA samples from those arrested for serious crimes without violation of their constitutional rights from unlawful searches.  From the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University

Unanimous Supreme Court decision that farmer Bowman violated Monsanto patents by trying to reuse Roundup Ready soybean seeds for late season planting.  The farmer had argued that the seeds he bought from a grain elevator were not covered by the patent.  The decision stopped short of covering other self-replicating technologies.  From the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University

Press release which announces agency approval of the application to market Plan B without prescription for women 15+.  The FDA action follows an April 2013 ruling by a New York Federal District judge that the product should be available without age or point of sale restrictions.  From the Food and Drug Administration

Amicus brief filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in the Georgia State University E-reserves copyright case.  Supports the arguments of the university and the Library Copyright Alliance against the

Publishers.  From the Library Copyright Alliance

Unanimous Supreme Court decision that limits the ability of U.S. courts to hear civil lawsuits charging corporations with violations of human rights abroad.  The case involved Nigerians living in the U.S. who alleged that a subsidiary of an international oil company aided Nigerian authorities in torturing and killing protestors opposed to the company’s operations in Nigeria in the 1990s.  From the Cornell Legal Information Institute

8-1 Supreme Court decision that warrants are usually required before uncooperative drivers can be forced to submit to a blood-alcohol test.  The justices were divided on how to define the circumstances which would allow testing without a warrant.  From the Cornell Legal Information Institute

Explores the source of Congress’s authority to regulate guns under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and how courts have analyzed challenges to this authority.   From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Ruling of Federal District Court Judge Edward Korman that Plan B One-Step, the so-called Morning-after pill, should be available without prescription to women of all ages.  Reverses a prior decision of the Food and Drug Administration at the direction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  From the U.S. Courts, Eastern District Court of New York.

Discusses the Recess Appointments Clause of the Constitution, the way in which it has been used by presidents, the recent court decision undermining presidential authority, and the increased Congressional power over appointments if the Supreme Court upholds the Appeals Court decision.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Explores what super PACs are, how they developed out of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, and what they raised and spent in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Oral arguments in the so-called Same Sex Marriage case before the Supreme Court on March 26, 2013.  From the Supreme Court

6-3 Supreme Court decision on whether copyright protection extends to goods purchased abroad and re-sold in the U.S.  The court reversed the lower court and ruled against the publisher. The case involved textbooks purchased abroad and re-sold in the U.S. at prices that undercut the publisher’s price.  From the Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute

Discusses two cases before the Supreme Court that represent challenges to laws that impose restrictions on same-sex marriage, including the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Unanimous Supreme Court decision that the five year statute of limitations in investment fraud cases begins from the point where the fraud occurs, not as the Securities and Exchange Commission argued, from the point of discovery.  From the Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute

Discusses constitutional provisions allocating war powers between Congress and the President, and presents a historical overview of relevant court cases.  The report then considers the various measures that can be used by Congress to restrict or end military operations. From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

5-4 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the legal right of U.S. authorities to intercept and monitor electronic communications between foreign targets and people in the U.S.  The court ruled that the law’s challengers lacked legal standing to pursue their case.   From the Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute

Background paper on a controversial British Parliament bill intended to modernize and strengthen oversight of the intelligence and security services and allow civil courts to use closed material procedures to hear sensitive evidence in national security cases.  House of Commons Library Research Paper 13/13

Discusses recent developments including President Obama’s support for gun control legislation and judicial cases post-Heller which have considered state and local assault weapons restrictions.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Provides statistics on the number of cases handled in federal district courts, trends, increases in cases involving immigration violations, and the growth of defendants with serious criminal backgrounds.  From the Bureau of Justice Statistics

7-2 Supreme Court ruling that an immigration attorney’s failure to warn a client of the possibility of deportation when pleading guilty to a crime does not apply retroactively to cases in process when a later ruling required such warnings.  From the Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute

Unanimous Supreme Court  decision that ruled that police did not have to provide detailed records of effectiveness of drug dogs in drug cases.   From the Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute

Text of Justice Department lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s for actions that contributed to the near collapse of the financial markets.    From Courthousenew.com

Discusses cost containment efforts in the judicial branch and urges Congress to act on judicial vacancies.  From the Supreme Court

Discusses major judicial opinions concerning suspected enemy belligerents detained in the conflict with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, including all relevant Supreme Court decisions and notable circuit court opinions.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Reports a 14% drop in bankruptcy filings for FY2012 from 1.467 million in 2011 to 1.261 million in 2012.  From the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

Examines the controversy over whether there should be severe limitations on the ability of inventors to obtain diagnostic method patents following a restrictive Supreme Court decision in 2012.  From the Congressional Research Service, posted by the Federation of American Scientists

Text of the decision of Judge Harold Baer Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that Hathitrust’s  mass digitizing of books does not violate Section 108 of the Copyright Act.  From Scribd.com