[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] handed down decisions in two cases Wednesday, including New York Board of Elections v. Torres [Duke Law case backgrounder; JURIST report], where the Court upheld New York's procedure for selecting state trial judges. In New York, judicial candidates are selected through nominations at political conventions rather than through primaries, a process which was found unconstitutional [PDF text; JURIST report] by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the system does not violate the First Amendment rights of prospective party candidates. Read the Court's opinion [text] per Justice Scalia, along with a concurrence [text] from Justice Stevens, and a second concurrence [text] from Justice Kennedy. AP has more.

In Knight v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue [LII case backgrounder], the Court held that investment advice fees incurred by a trust may only be deducted on the trust's federal tax return to the extent they exceed 2 percent of the trust's adjusted gross income. The Court affirmed the Second Circuit's decision [PDF text] in the case, rejecting the trust's argument that it should be allowed to fully deducted the investment advisory fees. Read the Court's unanimous opinion [text] per Chief Justice Roberts. AP has more.