supreme court

Vaccine makers such as Pfizer are breathing easier now that the Supreme Court has ruled they can't be sued for defective vaccine designs. The majority opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia was unequivocal: Congress has barred lawsuits over the rare but unavoidable side effects of vital vaccines.

Among the state systems governing foreclosure, Hawaii has a particularly fraud-riddled, draconian process. Elderly Suzanne Bonds was unbelievably exploited by that process in 2004, but Hawaii's courts refused to help. Now, her attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

By a unanimous 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that anti-discrimination laws forbid employers from firing the fiancee of an employee as retaliation for her complaining about sexual discrimination. Just as interesting as the ruling is why the pro-business wing of the court came down on the side of the employees.

When the government releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act, it still has to protect human beings' personal privacy. This week, AT&T asked the Supreme Court to apply the same privacy principle to corporations. A ruling is months away, but it didn't sound like even the conservative wing of the court was buying it.

In a split vote, which upholds a lower court's ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that Swatch's Omega can effectively control the pricing of its luxury watches in the U.S., which means consumers will pay more.

Is Arizona's "Legal Arizona Workers Act" -- which targets employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants -- preempted by federal laws? The Supreme Court has agreed to hear challenges to the law on Wednesday. A final ruling is months away.

On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether all the female employees who claim Walmart discriminated against them can sue the world's largest retailer as a class, and if they can, whether they can sue for back pay or only for judicial orders to force it to change its behavior.

Omega's Seamaster watch has a $1,995 list price in the U.S., but by importing the watch from abroad, Costco could sell it here for $1,299. The Supreme Court has decided to hear this case, which will have wide impact, from Silicon Valley to local libraries.

By buying Omega watches from an overseas distributor, Costco has been able to sell them at well below the suggested retail price. Can Swatch use its copyright to stop Costco? The U.S. Supreme Court's decision could have broad implications for the so-called "gray" market.

The U.S. Supreme Court began to consider the constitutionality of a California law that would ban retailers from selling violent videogame titles to minors. The law, first proposed in 2005, has already been ruled unconstitutional by a lower court.