Today’s all about the music: rap lyrics as threats, the final countdown for same-sex marriage advocates, and cops facing the music in court (or not). Here are today’s three selections for our SCOTUS roundup:

  • If a man writes criminal threats in the form of rap lyrics, is he actually making those threats, or is he simply doing what most rapper do: writing over-the-top, violent boasts over beats?
  • In a rare case of a victorious party supporting certiorari, same-sex marriage plaintiffs, who are undefeated in federal courts, are asking the Supreme Court to take the case anyway.
  • UC Erwin Irvine Dean Erwin Chemerinsky outlines the numerous ways in which the Supreme Court has made it virtually impossible to hold police officers, such as the one who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, accountable in a civil lawsuit.

Dropping Bars and Bodies III: More Lyrical Convictions

Ars Technica has an interesting piece on a case that the Court will hear this term: Anthony Elonis’ 2010 Facebook rants/lyrics/threats. Elonis is serving four-year prison term for making threats against elementary schools:

That’s it, I’ve had about enough

I’ll take seven [kids] from [Columbine]

  • After Hobby Lobby, HHS’ New Contraceptive Rules Up for Public Comment (FindLaw’s U.S. Supreme Court Blog)
  • Ginsburg’s Interview With Marcia Coyle: 5 Interesting Points (FindLaw’s U.S. Supreme Court Blog)
  • Snippets: Stay Granted in Va.; SCOTUS Ice Bucket Challenge? (FindLaw’s U.S. Supreme Court Blog)

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Civil Rights

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Criminal

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