Today in Supreme Court History: November 7

Cleveland v. United States, 531 U.S. 12 (decided November 7, 2000): video poker licenses were not “property” so as to be predicate for prosecution under mail fraud statute (defendants had obtained licenses via applications with fraudulently concealed facts)

Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (decided November 7, 1932): in one of the earliest Incorporation decisions, Court holds that Sixth Amendment right to counsel was “incorporated” by Fourteenth Amendment and therefore binding on the States; black defendants accused of raping white woman on train should have been given court-appointed lawyer and been informed of their right to such (this was the “Scottsboro Boys” case)

The Max Morris v. Curry, 137 U.S. 1 (decided November 7, 1890): person injured on vessel can recover in admiralty suit even if partly at fault