Monday, November 16, 2009

Supreme Court Reverses Ninth Circuit On Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Takes a New Case And Asks For The Position Of The United States On A Petition Filed By The Vatican

In Wong v. Belmontes, 558 U. S. ____ (2009) (08-1263), the United States Supreme Court reversed a decision from the Ninth Circuit that had reversed a death sentence based upon ineffective assistance of counsel.  Justice Stevens filed a concurring opinion which starts at page 15 of the link.  The Court had previously reversed the Ninth Circuit in this case at Ayers v. Belmontes, 549 U. S. 7 (2006); see also Brown v. Belmontes, 544 U. S. 945 (2005). 

The Court also granted certiorari in another case today, Maywood v. Culliver (09-158).  You can view the Court's docket for this case here.  The SCOTUS Blog has an article about the case here.  The SCOTUS Blog article indictates "The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to rule on a state prison inmate’s right to challenge in federal court when a new sentence has been imposed."  Adam Liptak at the New York Times has an article about the Maywood case titled "30 Years After Murder, Is His Appeal Too Late?"

Additionally, the Court asked for the position of the United States on a petition filed by the Vatican in the case of Holy See v. Doe, John V. (09-1).  You can view the docket for that case here.  The issue in this case is whether the Vatican is immune from liability in US Courts from lawsuits filed seeking to recover for the sexual abuse by priests against minors.

You can view the entire order list here.

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