Today in Supreme Court History: July 30

Perez v. United States, 1970 WL 105758 (decided July 30, 1970): Harlan affirms the Second Circuit’s denial of bail; defendant had been convicted under a statute which had just been struck down by the Court on due process grounds in another case (Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6); Harlan says the issue of retroactivity should be examined by the full Court and it will come up next term (as it turned out it held against retroactivity in several cases, most relevant to this situation Williams v. United States, 401 U.S. 646); he also says it is hard for a Circuit Justice to rule on bail requests when the lower court (as here) gives no reason why bail was denied

Maryland v. King, 567 U.S. 1301 (decided July 30, 2012): Roberts grants stay of Maryland appellate judgment striking down on Fourth Amendment grounds statute allowing the police to draw DNA samples from arrestees; notes the split of authority below and believes the Court would grant cert and uphold the statute (which it did, 569 U.S. 435, 2013)