Kavanaugh 1st opinion is unanimous, resolves narrow question
WASHINGTON (AP) - Justice Brett Kavanaugh has written his first majority opinion for the Supreme Court, a unanimous decision in an arbitration case.
Kavanaugh's eight-page opinion Tuesday resolves a narrow question in a dispute between two businesses in a soured relationship involving dental equipment.
The case involved whether the dispute would head to arbitration or a lawsuit, and who would decide which path.
The court is not answering those questions, but it is rejecting a lower-court ruling in favor of a lawsuit. Kavanaugh says courts must stick to the text of the Federal Arbitration Act and "are not at liberty to rewrite the statute passed by Congress and signed by the President."
Kavanaugh's is the first opinion to be issued from the two-week session of the court that began in late October.
Supreme Court refuses to review sentence in school shooting
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the nearly 112-year prison sentence of a man who fatally shot his parents before killing two students and wounding two dozen others at an Oregon high school more than 20 years ago.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports 36-year-old Kipland P. Kinkel had submitted his own typed petition to the nation's highest court in early August, and then his two new lawyers submitted their own petition on Kinkel's behalf.
The lawyers argued the Oregon Supreme Court got it wrong last year when it upheld Kinkel's sentence and found that Kinkel is incapable of rehabilitation.
The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday means the state Supreme Court ruling stands.
Kinkel was 15 at the time of the shooting at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon.
Court won't hear de Havilland's case about TV miniseries
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is declining to revive a lawsuit by Olivia de Havilland over the FX Networks miniseries "Feud: Bette and Joan," which centered on the rivalry between actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.
The high court on Monday said it would not take the actress's case. That means a California appeals court's decision throwing out the lawsuit stands. The appeals court unanimously ruled in 2018 that California law and the First Amendment required the lawsuit's dismissal.
The 102-year-old de Havilland had objected to her depiction on the eight-part miniseries. She said her likeness was illegally used and her character, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, came across as a vulgar gossipmonger.
As is its usual practice, the Supreme Court did not say anything about the case in declining to hear it.
Supreme Court refuses to block case against ExxonMobil
BOSTON (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a bid by ExxonMobil meant to block an investigation by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey into whether the company misled investors and consumers about what it knew about the link between fossil fuels and climate change.
The Democrat is seeking documents from the Irving, Texas-based oil and gas giant into whether it concealed information about the impact of burning fossil fuels.
Monday's decision is the latest legal blow for ExxonMobil. Last year the highest court in Massachusetts ruled the company must hand over documents sought by Healey.
Healey said Monday's decision clears the way for the investigation. She said the public deserves answers about what ExxonMobil knew about the effect of burning fossil fuels, and when.
An ExxonMobil spokesman declined to comment.
U.S. Supreme Court won't hear appeal from Craigslist killer
AKRON, Ohio (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from an Ohio man sentenced to death for killing three down-and-out men lured by fake Craigslist job offers.
The appeal from 59-year-old Richard Beasley was among those that the high court on Monday declined to hear.
One of his attorneys, Donald Gallick, told the Akron Beacon Journal the decision is disappointing.
Beasley was convicted of posting bogus job offers on Craigslist to rob and murder three men in 2011. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld his death sentence last February.
Beasley sought to argue that state Supreme Court Justice Patrick DeWine should have recused himself because he's the son of state Attorney General Mike DeWine, whose office argued the case.
Beasley previously challenged his sentence because he said there were multiple trial errors.
Published: Wed, Jan 09, 2019
