521 U.S. 793 (1997) Cited 484 times 1 Legal Analyses
Holding that New York's assisted suicide law had a rational basis, therefore comporting with equal protection, despite its controversy among medical experts
Finding that additional grounds for dismissal raised in a reply affidavit did not violate the single-motion rule where the arguments could not have been raised earlier due to the "indefiniteness" of plaintiff's initial complaint
Holding that allegations that "counsel was simply not provided at critical stages of the proceedings . . . state[d] a claim, not for ineffective assistance under Strickland, but for basic denial of the right to counsel under Gideon"
Invalidating mandatory requirement to instruct the jury that, in the case of jury deadlock as to the appropriate sentence in a capital case, the defendant would receive a sentence of life imprisonment with parole eligibility after serving a minimum of 20 to 25 years
In Saccone, the Court emphasized the recognized strong public policy favoring the financial protection of a public employee's family, including protecting a public employee's ability to provide adequately for the well-being of his disabled child after his death.
Reversing a harassment charge where "[t]here is nothing in the record demonstrating that defendant's statement that she would 'beat the crap out of [complainant] some day or night in the street' was either serious, should reasonably have been taken to be serious, or was confirmed by other words or acts showing that it was anything more than a crude outburst"