Rory Little has been teaching Constitutional and Criminal Law topics at UC Law SF (formerly Hastings) for over 30 years, after 12 years of practice. He clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1984-85 term, worked at the fabled Miller Cassidy law firm in Washington D.C., and served as a trial and appellate lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as an Associate Deputy Attorney General. He (and others) also defended Mr. Brandon Jones, whom the State of Georgia executed in 2016.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. It’s always a wonder to me how some of the most important cases of the Supreme Court’s term receive the shortest amount of time to decide.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. Last week and the coming week are important for criminal law fans at the court. Two full-argument decisions were issued, both in favor of the defendant’s position.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. Today’s column is my busman’s holiday project: providing nerd-like numbers and information focused solely on Supreme Court cases that address criminal law issues.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. Imagine: A group of drug dealers beat and shoot dead a citizen they felt was interfering with their work.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. A lot has happened on the Supreme Court’s docket since my September preview, including six criminal law opinions on the merits (two by summary reversal – that is, without additional briefing and oral arguments), and 29 new grants of review (certiorari).
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. After the month-long “winter break” in oral arguments, the justices return to the bench on Jan. 12 for only (around) seven hours of argument in nine cases.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. The first “opinion of the court” for the 2025-26 term was a summary disposition in a criminal case (an immediate grant of certiorari and reversal of the lower court decision without further briefing or oral argument).
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. The Supreme Court has only eight cases scheduled for oral argument over two weeks this December. (You can listen to their oral arguments live, here.)
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. The Constitution’s first 10 Amendments (the Bill of Rights) list a number of criminal procedure guarantees (because the 1790 Framers, criminals all in the eyes of their former government, were unhappy with their treatment by the British).
Updated on Oct. 31 at 6:25 p.m. ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. While all media eyes will be on the tariff cases set for oral argument on Nov. 5, the fact is that over half of the 11 cases set for the two-week November sitting are criminal-and-related cases.
ScotusCrim is a recurring series by Rory Little focusing on intersections between the Supreme Court and criminal law. Please note that the views of outside contributors do not reflect the official opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff.