AP News, May 4th, 2007
Some Supreme Court cases, since Samuel Alito joined the court last year, showing a clear division between conservative and liberal justices.
_Free speech: Scales back protections for government workers who blow the whistle on official misconduct, Garcetti v. Ceballos. Majority: Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas. Dissent: Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, John Paul Stevens.
_Death penalty-Kansas: Upholds state law that says juries should sentence a defendant to die _ rather than serve life in prison _ when the evidence for and against imposing death is equal, Kansas v. Marsh. Majority: Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas. Dissent: Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter, Stevens.
_Police searches: Makes it easier for police to barge into homes and seize evidence without knocking or waiting, Hudson v. Michigan. Majority: Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas. Dissent: Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter, Stevens.
_Death penalty-California: Reinstates death penalty for convicted California killer after appeals court set aside death sentence because the trial judge misled jurors. Ayers v. Belmontes. Majority: Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas. Dissent: Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter, Stevens.
_Global warming: Rejects Bush administration claims that it has no authority to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases from new cars, Massachusetts v. EPA. Majority: Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter, Stevens. Dissent: Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas.
_Death penalty-Texas: Throws out death sentences for three inmates on Texas death row, saying appeals courts wrongly applied court precedents and federal law, Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman, Brewer v. Quarterman, Smith v. Texas. Majority: Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter, Stevens. Dissent: Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas.
