Four decisions handed out today. I've read the syllabi but not the opinions yet:
FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc.With an 8-0 decision by Kennedy (Sotomayor dd not participate, Ginsburg gave a concurrence.) the Supreme Court punted the First Amendment issue concerning regulation of broadcast indecency in favor of a narrow Due Process argument that Fox (and ABC) did not have sufficient prior notice that what they broadcast would be considered objectionable by the FCC.
Dorsey v. U.S.A 5-4 decision by Breyer with the dissent by Scalia and the expected placement of justices in a 5-4 split with those two writing the opinions. Held that the new lower mandatory minimums for crack cocaine apply to crimes where sentence was handed out after the effective date of the Fair Sentencing Act even for crimes committed before that date. My gut tells me I'd likely side with Scalia here, but I'd want to read the opinions before committing myself.
Knox v, SEIUA 7-2 decision by Alito with Sotomayor filing a concurrence that Ginsberg joined while Breyer filed a dissent to which Kagan concurred. Based on the principles of
Hudson, it seems to me SEIU richly deserved to lose this case, and the Supreme Court only needed to take this case because the Ninth got it badly wrong.
Southern Union Co. v. U.S.A 6-3 decision that doesn't split the court on the typical fault lines. The decision was written by Sotomayor, with Breyer writing the dissent which was supported by Kennedy and Alito. The decision holds that the ruling of
Apprendi applies to criminal fines as well as civil fines, thus for fines in which there is a per day maximum for the fine, a jury must decide how many days occurred the conduct that is being fined. Again, seems straightforward, and judging by the syllabus, the dissent here probably rehashed any dissent from
Apprendi.
