Supreme Court Makes Controversial Rulings as Term Wraps Up

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 7, 2008 at 7:12 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

As the U.S. Supreme Court wrapped up its term last week, it ruled on a number of controversial cases, including gun rights and the death penalty for child rapists. We'll take a look back at the decis

Tom Fudge : The U.S. Supreme Court is on summer vacation. Typically, they save their big controversial decisions for the last few weeks. Maybe the justices do that so they can get out of town before the angry phone calls start coming in?

But over the past few weeks of their session, the court decided the constitution does guarantee an individual's right to keep guns. They said the death penalty cannot be used to punish a non-treasonous crime that doesn't take another person's life. Those two cases alone had a big impact on the rights of states and the rights of individuals, under the Constitution.

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Guests :

Dan Eaton , San Diego attorney and "These Days" legal analyst.
Glenn Smith , professor of constitutional law at California Western School of Law.