Here are brief summaries of the Supreme Court rulings
June 28, 2008 at 11:44PM
5 to 4: Ruled that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting.
DEATH PENALTY
5 to 4: Outlawed executions for the nonlethal rape of a child.
7 to 2: Upheld lethal injections, the most common method of capital punishment used throughout the United States.
7 to 2: Threw out a death sentence and murder conviction because a Louisiana prosecutor kept blacks off the jury.
TERRORISM
5 to 4: Found that foreign terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay naval facility have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.
DRUG CRIME
7 to 2: Ruled that federal judges can impose shorter sentences than those prescribed under federal sentencing guidelines for crimes related to crack cocaine, making those sentences more equal to those for crimes involving powdered cocaine. Upheld more lenient sentences imposed by judges who rejected federal sentencing guidelines as too harsh.
VOTER ID
6 to 3: Said states can require would-be voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights.
CHILD PORN
7 to 2: Ruled that the federal government can criminalize an individual's promotion of child pornography, whether or not he or she actually possesses it.
PRESIDENTIAL POWER
6 to 3: Found that President Bush overstepped his authority when he ordered a Texas court to reopen the case of a Mexican national on death row for rape and murder.
INVESTOR LAWSUITS
5 to 3: Made it harder for investors to sue businesses that play secondary roles in schemes by publicly traded corporations to manipulate their stock prices.
MONEY MATTERS
7 to 2: Ruled that states can continue to give special tax breaks on bonds that fund hospitals, schools, roads and other services.
Unanimous: Sided with individual 401(k) retirement account holders, allowing them to sue under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to recover losses.
EXXON VALDEZ
5 to 3: Slashed the punitive damages Exxon Mobil must pay victims of the nation's worst oil spill. The justices cut the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to $500 million, saying punitive damages may not exceed what the company already paid to compensate victims for economic losses.
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His political views differed from a transgender classmate’s, but they forged a bond that lasted a decade — until Vance seemed to pivot, politically and personally.
