Upcoming Late-Term Cases to Watch at the Supreme Court

Docket: 08-751
El Paso, Texas, et al., v. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, et al.
Issue: Whether the grant of authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to “waive all legal requirements” necessary to ensure rapid construction of a border fence is an
unconstitutional delegation of legislative power or sufficient to preempt state and local law?

Docket: 08-757
Parr v. United States
Issue: What is the standard of proof, under the “true threat” doctrine of Virginia v. Black, for a conviction for threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction against a federal government building, and what testimonial evidence is admissible to establish an intent to threaten?

Docket: 08-769
United States v. Stevens
Issue: Is 18 U.S.C. 48, on depictions of animal cruelty, facially invalid under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment?

Docket: 08-833
Oliver v. Quarterman
Issue: Does juror consultation of the Bible during sentencing deliberations deprive a defendant of Sixth Amendment rights and what standard of proof should apply in evaluating the possible prejudice to the defendant?

Docket: 08-1065
Pottawattamie County et al. v. McGhee et al.
Issue: Whether a prosecutor may be subjected to a civil trial and potential damages for a wrongful conviction and incarceration where the prosecutor allegedly violated a criminal defendant’s “substantive due process” rights by procuring false testimony during the criminal investigation, and then introduced that same testimony against the criminal defendant at trial. (of particular relevance given the recent Stevens case and now infamous Duke Lacrosse prosecutions)