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Nina Totenberg Nina Totenberg is NPR's award-winning legal affairs correspondent.
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Nina Totenberg

Echoes of 1968

Earl Warren's Legacy

Earl Warren served as U.S. chief justice through much of the 1950s and 1960s, a time when the court made landmark civil rights decisions and other rulings with wide-ranging social importance. Warren's retirement came 40 years ago this month.

Earl Warren's Legacy

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Law

Supreme Court Ends Term with Tough Decisions

The Supreme Court is in recess for the summer, but the justices ended this week with some major and very close decisions. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg talks with Scott Simon about the end of the court term.

Supreme Court Ends Term with Tough Decisions

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Supreme Court Backs Right to Bear Arms

Gun Ruling Reverberates with Politicians, Police

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday for the first time that the Second Amendment to the Constitution protects an individual's right to own a gun. Gun rights advocates say there will be a flood of lawsuits attempting to ease regulations on gun ownership. Big city mayors and police chiefs predict an increase in gun violence.

Gun Ruling Reverberates with Politicians, Police

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Supreme Court Backs Right to Bear Arms

Supreme Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban

The Supreme Court for the first time ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to own a gun. The 5-4 opinion said the justices expect new cases to test the boundaries of government limits on those lawfully held guns.

Supreme Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban

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Law

Supreme Court: Gun Ownership an Individual Right

In a 5-4 vote Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court declared for the first time that the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right of individual Americans to keep and bear arms. The court said gun ownership is an individual right, not connected with military service, and that it can be regulated in some ways.

Renee Montagne and Nina Totenberg Discuss the Ruling on 'Morning Edition'

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Law

High Court Rejects Death Penalty for Child Rape

The Supreme Court has outlawed executions of people convicted of raping a child. The court was considering a Louisiana law that allowed for such executions. The ruling said the law violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Nina Totenberg discusses Wednesday's ruling on 'All Things Considered'

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Law

Key Rulings on Death Penalty, Damages, Witnesses

The Supreme Court is pushing toward the end of its term, and on Wednesday morning the justices issued a raft of important decisions dealing with the death penalty, punitive damages and confronting witnesses.

Key Rulings on Death Penalty, Damages, Witnesses

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Law

Audit: Justice Dept. Kept Out Liberal Attorneys

A Justice Department audit released Tuesday found that a screening program installed at the department in 2002 kept out Democrat- or liberal-leaning attorneys. Those with Republicans ties, meanwhile, got interviewed for plum positions at the department.

Audit: Justice Dept. Kept Out Liberal Attorneys

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National

Court Rules Against U.S. on Guantanamo Detainee

A federal appeals court has ruled that a prisoner being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should not be designated an enemy combatant. The prisoner is a Chinese Muslim known as a Uighur, who has been imprisoned for more than six years.

Court Rules Against U.S. on Guantanamo Detainee

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Law

Supreme Court Rules in Sanity Case

The Supreme Court has ruled even if a criminal defendant is mentally competent to stand trial, he might not have the right to act as his own lawyer. The court ruled in the case of an Indianapolis man with schizophrenia who was convicted of attempted murder.

Supreme Court Rules in Sanity Case

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Law

Guantanamo Detainees and the High Court's Ruling

The fate of roughly 270 men being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may change after Thursday's Supreme Court ruling against the Bush administration's plan for handling enemy combatants.

Guantanamo Detainees and the High Court's Ruling

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Law

'The End of Guantanamo as We Know It'

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to seek their release in federal court. The 5-4 decision was a stinging rebuke to President Bush's anti-terrorism policies, and reaction from law experts and Bush allies was swift.

'The End of Guantanamo as We Know It'

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Law

High Court Deals Setback to Bush Guantanamo Plans

Foreign terrorism suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have rights under the U.S. Constitution to challenge their detention in civilian courts, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The decision is another setback for the Bush administration over its treatment of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at Guantanamo.

Nina Totenberg talks about the ruling and constitutional issues at play

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Election 2008: Voting Groups

Priest Snubs Lawyer over Obama Endorsement

Conservative lawyer Douglas Kmiec was denied communion recently at a mass connected with a gathering of Catholic business people. The priest denounced Kmiec's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, then refused to give Kmiec communion.

Priest Snubs Lawyer over Obama Endorsement

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