Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Politics Subscribe Log In Log In Today’s Paper Politics | Hip-Hop Artists Give the Supreme Court a Primer on Rap Music Advertisement Supported by ByAdam Liptak March 6, 2019 WASHINGTON — Five years ago, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. enlivened a Supreme Court argument by reciting raw and violent lyrics from the rapper Eminem. The chief justice said he was worried that ignoring the song’s musical and cultural context could “subject to prosecution the lyrics that a lot of rap artists use.” That case, about online threats in a domestic dispute, ended in a cryptic muddle. But now the issue Chief Justice Roberts raised in passing is squarely at the court’s doorstep, in an appeal from a Pittsburgh rapper sent to prison for two years for threatening police officers — in a song. This time, the justices will have expert … [Read more...] about Hip-Hop Artists Give the Supreme Court a Primer on Rap Music
Pennsylvania supreme court rules
Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules against police union in arbitration award case
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal from the Fraternal Order of Police regarding an arbitration award. The union claimed that the panel neglected to account for competitive compensation in determining the award. After the police union’s collective bargaining agreement with the city of Pittsburgh expired at the end of 2014, the union and the city were unable to reach another agreement. The two parties began arbitration in compliance with Pennsylvania’s Police and Fireman Collective Bargaining Act. The arbitration panel then issued an award from the years 2015-2018 after examining many factors, including police office compensation in comparison to officers in similarly situation districts. The lower court quashed the union’s appeal of the award. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision saying that no evidence showed the award was “arbitrary, capricious, or in bad … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules against police union in arbitration award case
Pennsylvania appeals court orders Sandusky resentencing
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky must be re-sentenced as he was originally sentenced in accordance with mandatory sentencing laws that are now unconstitutional. Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse in 2012 and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison, in accordance with the mandatory sentencing laws for certain crimes against minors. The court’s 2016 decision in Commonwealth v. Wolfe stated that the law was “irremediably unconstitutional on its face, non-severable, and void.” The court’s 119-page opinion rejected 21 of Sandusky’s 22 arguments, which mostly concerned ineffective assistance of counsel. If granted, the first 21 issues likely would have entitled Sandusky to a new trial. Sandusky’s lawyer Al Lindsay has said that he will continue fighting for a new trial all the way the the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which has already … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania appeals court orders Sandusky resentencing
Supreme Court turns away Pennsylvania electoral map dispute
FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, U.S., June 11, 2018. REUTERS/Erin Schaff/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a bid by Republican legislators in Pennsylvania to reinstate a congressional district map struck down by that state’s top court as unlawfully biased in favor of Republicans. A new state electoral map, devised by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after it invalidated the Republican-drawn districts in January, is seen as giving Democrats a better shot at gaining seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Nov. 6 congressional elections in which President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans are seeking to retain control of Congress. The case involves a practice called partisan gerrymandering in which electoral maps are drafted in a manner that helps one party tighten its grip on power by undermining the clout of voters that tend to favor the other party. The high court in June failed to determine … [Read more...] about Supreme Court turns away Pennsylvania electoral map dispute
U.S. Supreme Court turns away Pennsylvania electoral map dispute
A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington December 3, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a bid by Republican legislators in Pennsylvania to reinstate a congressional district map struck down by that state’s top court as unlawfully biased in favor of Republicans. The justices rejected the appeal of a January Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling invalidating the Republican-drawn map because it violated the state constitution’s requirement that elections be “free and equal” by marginalizing Democratic voters. The case involves a practice called partisan gerrymandering in which electoral maps are drafted in a manner that helps one party tighten its grip on power by undermining the clout of voters that tend to favor the other party. The practice has been used for two centuries but has become more extreme with the use of computer programs to maximize the effects of gerrymandering in a way … [Read more...] about U.S. Supreme Court turns away Pennsylvania electoral map dispute