Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered a conservative-leaning swing vote in two 5-4 decisions this morning. In District Attorney’s Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne, the Court ruled 5-4 that criminal defendants have no federal constitutional right of postconviction access to DNA evidence.
In the other 5-4 of the day, Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., the Court said plaintiffs in “mixed motive” Age Discrimination in Employment Act cases must prove that age was the “but for” cause of the employer’s action. The Court also said that its precedents in Title VII cases don’t automatically inform its rulings on similar issues raised under the ADEA.
