Today in Supreme Court History: December 21

Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112 (decided December 21, 1970): original jurisdiction case; Congress can set voting age requirements for federal elections but not state or local elections (quickly abrogated by Twenty-Sixth Amendment which set national voting age of 18)

Baltimore City Dept. of Social Services v. Bouknight, 488 U.S. 1301 (decided December 21, 1988): Granting stay of Court of Appeals order holding that mother properly invoked self-incrimination privilege when refusing to answer questions from DSS about whereabouts of son (in other words, the trial court’s holding of contempt was back in effect) (this was not a sympathetic contemnor; there was “hard evidence” of mother’s previous physical abuse of child and she had stopped attending parenting classes and appearing for DSS appointments) (the Court eventually affirmed the finding of contempt, 493 U.S. 549, 1990). She was finally released in 1995 after seven years in jail. The judge ordered no contact with her son (fortunately they had found him) unless cleared by a psychiatrist. This is from the story of her release, from the Baltimore Sun: “Ms. Bouknight’s attorneys insisted their client had been victimized for trying to cooperate with police to find Maurice. Every time she started to help again, other lawyers in their case would withdraw their support for her release on the grounds that her cooperation meant that keeping her jailed was having some helpful effect.” ??

Williams v. North Carolina, 317 U.S. 287 (decided December 21, 1942): North Carolina must give “full faith and credit” (art. IV, §1) to Nevada divorces; dismisses bigamy prosecution (at which a jury evaluated proper service of Nevada divorce proceedings and “bona fides” of couple’s residence in Nevada)