TBTLegal Archives - Michael S. Hiller - Hiller, PC

12

Feb

Coerced Confessions Unconstitutional: Florida v. Chambers (1940)

Seventy-five (75) years ago today, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Florida v. Chambers that confessions obtained through coercion are inadmissible at trial. The circumstances of the coercion in Chambers weren’t especially brutal; there was no evidence of beatings, threats, deprivation of food or...

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05

Feb

110 Years Later and We Are Still Arguing Over Compulsory Vaccinations: Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)

Over the last several weeks, the country has, once again, been in the throes of a national debate over the cost-benefit analysis of vaccination. The medical community is universal in its conclusion that vaccination vastly reduces (and, in many instances, eliminates) the spread of certain...

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29

Jan

Leland v. Oregon – Insanity Defense

53 years ago today, the US Supreme Court decided Leland v. Oregon, ruling that requiring a criminal defendant to bear the burden of proving insanity beyond a reasonable doubt does not violate the Constitution. That may not seem important or even complicated, but it is. ...

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22

Jan

Roe v. Wade – 42 Years Later – You Might Be Surprised At How Few Protections Are Left

42 years ago today, the US Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, which, at the time, established a woman’s unqualified constitutional right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy during the first two trimesters -- the generally accepted period during which the fetus is not...

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