The Least Interesting Branch: Why Supreme Court Leaks Reveal Little

MICHAEL C. DORF

Cornell law professor Michael C. Dorf comments on a recent series of articles published on CNN.com purporting to reveal deep secrets about the U.S. Supreme Court’s deliberations. Dorf points out that the so-called revelations about the Court reveal little or nothing that Court watchers don’t already know or infer, which, paints a reassuring picture of the Court as operating behind closed doors exactly as we expect it to.

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New Hampshire v. Munroe

Docket: 2018-0433

Opinion Date: August 4, 2020

Judge: Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Defendant Michael Munroe was convicted by jury on one count of assault by a prisoner. He argued on appeal the superior court erred by: (1) striking his notice of self-defense; (2) overruling his hearsay objection to testimony from a medical professional as to the victim’s identity; (3) denying him leave to represent himself; (4) failing to allow his trial attorneys to withdraw their representation pursuant to the New Hampshire Rules of Professional Conduct; and (5) trying him in absentia. After a review of the trial court record, the New Hampshire Supreme Court concluded the superior court erred in striking defendant's notice of self-defense. The Court found N.H. R. Crim. P. 14(b)(2)(A)'s requirement that defendant “set forth the grounds” was not tantamount to a requirement that the defendant proffer evidence in support of the noticed defense. "The rule does not allow trial courts to require that defendants identify evidentiary support for a noticed defense. Because that is what the court did here, it erred." Judgment was reversed and the matter remanded for a new trial.