BRISCOE et al. v. VIRGINIA
No. 07-11191.
Argued January 11, 2010
Decided January 25, 2010
Richard D. Friedman argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs were Joseph D. King, Thomas B. Shuttleworth, and Charles B. Lustig.
Stephen R. McCullough, State Solicitor General of Virginia, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were William C. Mims, Attorney General, Martin L. Kent, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Eugene Murphy, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Alice T. Armstrong, Assistant Attorney General II, and William E. Thro.
Leondra R. Kruger argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging affirmance. With her on the brief were Solicitor General Kagan, Assistant Attorney General Breuer, Deputy Solicitor General Dreeben, and David E. Hollar.
Timothy P. O’Toole, Sandra K. Levick, Catharine F. Easterly, and Jeffrey L. Fisher filed a brief for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia et al. as amici curiae urging reversal.
A brief of amici curiae urging affirmance was filed for the State of Indiana et al. by Gregory F. Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, Thomas M. Fisher, Solicitor General, and Stephen R. Creason, Heather L. Hagan, and Ashley E. Taiman, Deputy Attorneys General, by Martha Coakley, Attorney General of Massachusetts, and James J. Arguin and David S. Friedman, Assistant Attorneys General, by Kevin T. Kane, Chief State’s Attorney of Connecticut, and by the Attorneys General for their respective jurisdictions as follows: Troy King of Alabama, Terry Goddard of Arizona, John W. Suthers of Colorado, Joseph R. Biden III of Delaware, Peter J. Nickles of the District of Columbia, Bill McCollum of Florida, Lawrence G. Wasden of Idaho, Tom Miller of Iowa, Steve Six of Kansas, Douglas F. Gansler of Maryland, Michael A. Cox of Michigan, Lori Swanson of Minnesota, Anne Milgram of New Jersey, Gary K King of New Mexico, Wayne Stenehjem of North Dakota, Richard Cordray of Ohio, W. A Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma, Henry D. McMaster of South Carolina, Marty J. Jackley of South Dakota, Robert E. Cooper, Jr., of Tennessee, Mark L. Shurtleffoi Utah, Robert M. McKenna of Washington, J. B. Van Hollen of Wisconsin, and Bruce A Salzburg of Wyoming.
Per Curiam.
We vacate the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia and remand the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U. S. 305 (2009).
It is so ordered.
What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to determine the issue area of the Court's decision. Determine the issue area on the basis of the Court's own statements as to what the case is about. Focus on the subject matter of the controversy rather than its legal basis. In specifying the issue in a legacy case, choose the one that best accords with what today's Court would consider it to be. Choose among the following issue areas: "Criminal Procedure" encompasses the rights of persons accused of crime, except for the due process rights of prisoners. "Civil rights" includes non-First Amendment freedom cases which pertain to classifications based on race (including American Indians), age, indigency, voting, residency, military or handicapped status, gender, and alienage. "First Amendment encompasses the scope of this constitutional provision, but do note that it need not involve the interpretation and application of a provision of the First Amendment. For example, if the case only construe a precedent, or the reviewability of a claim based on the First Amendment, or the scope of an administrative rule or regulation that impacts the exercise of First Amendment freedoms. "Due process" is limited to non-criminal guarantees. "Privacy" concerns libel, comity, abortion, contraceptives, right to die, and Freedom of Information Act and related federal or state statutes or regulations. "Attorneys" includes attorneys' compensation and licenses, along with trhose of governmental officials and employees. "Unions" encompass those issues involving labor union activity. "Economic activity" is largely commercial and business related; it includes tort actions and employee actions vis-a-vis employers. "Judicial power" concerns the exercise of the judiciary's own power. "Federalism" pertains to conflicts and other relationships between the federal government and the states, except for those between the federal and state courts. "Federal taxation" concerns the Internal Revenue Code and related statutes. "Private law" relates to disputes between private persons involving real and personal property, contracts, evidence, civil procedure, torts, wills and trusts, and commercial transactions. Prior to the passage of the Judges' Bill of 1925 much of the Court's cases concerned such issues. Use "Miscellaneous" for legislative veto and executive authority vis-a-vis congress or the states.
Criminal Procedure Civil Rights First Amendment Due Process Privacy Attorneys Unions Economic Activity Judicial Power Federalism Interstate Relations Federal Taxation Miscellaneous Private Action