Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced in January that he will retire this year, giving President Biden a chance to name his replacement. Dave reviews highlights from Breyer's 38 years on the bench.
Read MoreDave previews some of the big cases coming before the U.S. Supreme Court this session -- first with Kevin Gavin on 90.5 WESA's "The Confluence," then continuing with extra podcast-only analysis of cases not covered in the segment.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court wraps up its session with big decisions on juvenile justice, criminal procedure, civil rights and liberties, voting rights, and more.
Read MoreA California man's DUI has been thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that police needed a warrant to enter his attached garage.
Read MorePresumptive Justice-to-be Amy Coney Barrett is conservative in both her political ideology and her judicial philosophy. But that doesn't mean she'll automatically side with police and prosecutors on the Supreme Court bench. Indeed, if her mentor Antonin Scalia is any guide, Coney Barrett may be less predictable on criminal justice than on other social issues.
Read MoreRemembering the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Read MoreDave reviews the recently concluded U.S. Supreme Court session with 90.5 WESA's Kevin Gavin on The Confluence.
Read MoreWorkplaces are adjusting to life under lockdown by holding meetings via videoconference — and the U.S. Supreme Court is no exception.
Read MoreFormer Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who died last week at age 99, was an independent thinker and a fascinating figure. We recall a few notable moments from Justice Stevens's extraordinary legal career.
Read MoreMore analysis of the recently completed Supreme Court term, this time on WESA's The Confluence.
Read MoreWe're holding off on the launch of season 7 so we can squeeze in a few more bonus episodes on recent and developing news stories. Today: analysis of the just-concluded U.S. Supreme Court session.
Read MoreThe Supreme Court affirms the longstanding "dual sovereignty" doctrine, which skirts the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause by distinguishing between state and federal cases.
Read MoreWhen deciding whether to charge a police officer with murder, prosecutors are bound to a stricter standard than applies in other murder cases. But that could change under a bill advancing in California's state legislature.
Read MoreCivil asset forfeiture takes a hit in the Supreme Court: per this week's 9-0 decision, the constitutional prohibition against excessive fines applies to states under 12th amendment due process protections.
Read MoreThe Supreme Court delivers decisions on two criminal justice hot buttons: civil asset forfeiture and double jeopardy.
Read MoreAs we record this, the question hanging over Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court is whether, and how, Senate Judiciary Committee will treat the accusations of criminal sexual assault made against Judge Kavanaugh by Professor Christine Blasy Ford. Whatever happens, the most important thing is to have a full, complete, and independent investigation of the charges before any hearing or vote.
Read MoreDavid joins the panel on WESA's The Confluence July 20 to discuss SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh's judicial record on criminal justice, individual rights, and civil liberties.
Read MoreHow might we expect Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to rule on criminal justice issues? His record on criminal cases is sparse, but there are some telling details...
Read MoreThe tattered system for supplying criminal defense services to the poor is a shambles. More than 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court declared that persons charged with crimes must be provided with a defense lawyer if they are too poor to afford one, that promise has been broken. In countless places around the U.S., governments simply do not provide the resources for poor people charged with crimes to have a real defense. The result: defense lawyers with impossible caseloads struggling to meet the constitutional minimum standards for defense. It’s a national scandal, and yet year after year, state and local governments do too little – or nothing – to fix it.
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