Supermax placement procedures ruling [US SC] News
Supermax placement procedures ruling [US SC]

Wilkinson, et al. v. Austin et al., Supreme Court of the United States, June 13, 2005 [ruling unanimously that stricter procedural limits are not necessary in decisions placing inmates in "super-maximum security" prisons]. Excerpt from the Opinion by Justice Kennedy:

We now hold that the New Policy as described in this opinion strikes a constitutionally permissible balance between the factors of the Mathews framework. If an inmate were to demonstrate that the New Policy did not in practice operate in this fashion, resulting in a cognizable injury, that could be the subject of an appropriate future challenge. On remand, the Court of Appeals, or the District Court, may consider in the first instance what, if any, prospective relief is still a necessary and appropriate remedy for due process violations under Ohio's previous policies. Any such relief must, of course, satisfy the conditions set forth in 18 U. S. C. §3626(a)(1)(A).

Read the full text of the opinion here [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Standard Oil incorporated

On January 10, 1870, John Davison Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil. Rockefeller's corporation would grow to achieve a virtual monopoly over oil production in the United States. Standard Oil's dominance lasted until the corporation was split into 34 separate companies in 1911 after the Supreme Court found the company in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The rise of Standard Oil made Rockefeller America's first billionaire and eventually the richest man in the world. Read the text of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey vs. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1910).