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On this page you will find Federal Law related information updated regularly, so check back often.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 |  | ||
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| Supreme Court Syllabi
Sears v. Upton No. 09-8554 Decided June 29, 2010 Opinion Author: Per Curiam ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA Per Curiam. According to an expert who testified during state postconviction relief, petitioner Demarcus A. Sears performs at or below the bottom first percentile in several measures of cognitive functioning and reasoning. The cause of this abnormality appears to be significant frontal lobe brain damage Sears suffered as a child, as well as drug and alcohol abuse in his teens. But because-in the words of the state trial court-his counsel conducted a penalty phase investigation that was "on its face . . . constitutionally inadequate," App. to Pet. for Cert. 27B, evidence relating to Sears' cognitive impairments and childhood difficulties was not brought to light at the time he was sentenced to death. | |||
| Monday, June 28, 2010 | | ||
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Supreme Court Syllabi
McDonald v. City of Chicago No. 08-1521 Argued March 02, 2010 Decided June 28, 2010 Opinion Author: Alito Two years ago, in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. ___, this Court held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense and struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home. Chicago (hereinafter City) and the village of Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, have laws effectively banning handgun possession by almost all private citizens. After Heller, petitioners filed this federal suit against the City, which was consolidated with two related actions, alleging that the City's handgun ban has left them vulnerable to criminals. They sought a declaration that the ban and several related City ordinances violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. Rejecting petitioners' argument that the ordinances are unconstitutional, the court noted that the Seventh Circuit previously had upheld the constitutionality of a handgun ban, that Heller had explicitly refrained from opining on whether the Second Amendment applied to the States, and that the court had a duty to follow established Circuit precedent. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, relying on three 19th-century cases- United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, Presser v. Illinois, 116 U. S. 252, and Miller v. Texas, 153 U. S. 535 -which were decided in the wake of this Court's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause in the Slaughter-House Cases, 16 Wall. 36. You can access the full text of the ruling at this link. | |||
| Friday, June 25, 2010 | | ||
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Supreme Court Syllabi
Skilling v. United States No. 08-1394 Argued March 01, 2010 Decided June 24, 2010 Opinion Author: Ginsburg Founded in 1985, Enron Corporation grew from its headquarters in Houston, Texas, into the seventh highest-revenue-grossing company in America. Petitioner Jeffrey Skilling, a longtime Enron officer, was Enron's chief executive officer from February until August 2001, when he resigned. Less than four months later, Enron crashed into bankruptcy, and its stock plummeted in value. After an investigation uncovered an elaborate conspiracy to prop up Enron's stock prices by overstating the company's financial well-being, the Government prosecuted dozens of Enron employees who participated in the scheme. In time, the Government worked its way up the chain of command, indicting Skilling and two other top Enron executives. These three defendants, the indictment charged, engaged in a scheme to deceive investors about Enron's true financial performance by manipulating its publicly reported financial results and making false and misleading statements. Count 1 of the indictment charged Skilling with, inter alia, conspiracy to commit "honest-services" wire fraud, 18 U. S. C. §§371, 1343, 1346, by depriving Enron and its shareholders of the intangible right of his honest services. Skilling was also charged with over 25 substantive counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, making false representations to Enron's auditors, and insider trading. Continue reading Skilling v. United States ... Black v. United States No. 08-876 Argued December 08, 2009 Decided June 24, 2010 Opinion Author: Ginsburg Petitioners (hereinafter Defendants)-executives of Hollinger International, Inc. (Hollinger), a publicly held U. S. company-were indicted for mail fraud, 18 U. S. C. §§1341, 1346, and other federal crimes. At trial, the Government pursued alternative mail-fraud theories, charging that (1) Defendants stole millions from Hollinger by fraudulently paying themselves bogus "noncompetition fees"; and (2) by failing to disclose those fees, Defendants deprived Hollinger of their honest services. Before jury deliberations began, the Government proposed special-verdict forms that would reveal, in the event that the jury voted to convict on a mail-fraud count, the particular theory or theories accounting for the verdict. Defendants resisted, preferring an unelaborated general verdict. The Government ultimately acquiesced. The District Court instructed the jury on each of the alternative theories. As to honest-services fraud, the court informed the jury, over Defendants' timely objection, that a person commits that offense if he misuses his position for private gain for himself and/or a co-schemer and knowingly and intentionally breaches his duty of loyalty. The jury returned general verdicts of "guilty" on the mail-fraud counts, found that one Defendant was also guilty of obstruction of justice, and acquitted Defendants on all other charges. Continue reading Black v. United States ... Magwood v. Patterson No. 09-198 Argued March 24, 2010 Decided June 24, 2010 Opinion Author: Thomas Petitioner Magwood was sentenced to death for murder. After the Alabama courts denied relief on direct appeal and in postconviction proceedings, he sought federal habeas relief. The District Court conditionally granted the writ as to his sentence, mandating that he be released or resentenced. The state trial court sentenced him to death a second time. He filed another federal habeas application, challenging this new sentence on the grounds that he did not have fair warning at the time of his offense that his conduct would permit a death sentence under Alabama law, and that his attorney rendered ineffective assistance during the resentencing proceeding. The District Court once again conditionally granted the writ. The Eleventh Circuit reversed, holding in relevant part that Magwood's challenge to his new death sentence was an unreviewable "second or successive" challenge under 28 U. S. C. §2244(b) because he could have raised his fair-warning claim in his earlier habeas application. | |||
| Monday, June 21, 2010 | | ||
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Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
No. 08-1498 * Argued February 23, 2010 Decided June 21, 2010 Opinion Author: Chief Justice Roberts *Together with No. 09-89, Humanitarian Law Project et al. v. Holder, Attorney General, et al., also on certiorari to the same court. It is a federal crime to "knowingly provid[e] material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization." 18 U. S. C. §2339B(a)(1). The authority to designate an entity a "foreign terrorist organization" rests with the Secretary of State, and is subject to judicial review. "[T]he term 'material support or resources' means any property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who may be or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or religious materials." §2339A(b)(1). Over the years, §2339B and the definition of "material support or resources" have been amended, inter alia, to clarify that a violation requires knowledge of the foreign group's designation as a terrorist organization or its commission of terrorist acts, §2339B(a)(1); and to define the terms "training," §2339A(b)(2), "expert advice or assistance," §2339A(b)(3), and "personnel," §2339B(h). | |||
| Thursday, June 17, 2010 | | ||
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Supreme Court Syllabi
Dillon v. United States No. 09-6338 Argued March 30, 2010 Decided June 17, 2010 Opinion Author: Sotomayor In 1993, petitioner Dillon was convicted of, inter alia, crack and powder cocaine offenses, which produced a base offense level of 38 and a Guidelines range of 262-to-327 months' imprisonment. The court sentenced him at the bottom of the range for those counts. After the Sentencing Commission amended the Guidelines to reduce the base offense level associated with each quantity of crack cocaine, USSG Supp. App. C, Amdt. 706, and made that amendment retroactive, USSG Supp. App. C, Amdt. 713, Dillon moved for a sentence reduction under 18 U. S. C. §3582(c)(2). That provision authorizes a district court to reduce an otherwise final sentence pursuant to a Guidelines amendment if a reduction is consistent with the Commission's policy statements. The relevant policy statement, USSG §1B1.10, precludes a court from reducing a sentence "to a term that is less than the minimum of the amended guidelines range" except in limited circumstances. In addition to the two-level reduction authorized by the amendment, Dillon sought a variance below the amended Guidelines range, contending that United States v. Booker, 543 U. S. 220, authorized the exercise of such discretion. The District Court imposed a sentence at the bottom of the revised range but declined to grant a further reduction. Finding Booker inapplicable to §3582(c)(2) proceedings, the court concluded that the Commission's directives in §1B1.10 constrained it to impose a sentence within the amended Guidelines range. The Third Circuit affirmed. | |||
| Wednesday, June 16, 2010 | | ||
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Supreme Court Syllabi
Dolan v. United States No. 09-367 Argued April 20, 2010 Decided June 14, 2010 Opinion Author: Breyer Petitioner Dolan pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury and entered into a plea agreement, which stated that the District Court could order restitution for his victim. Dolan's presentence report also noted that restitution was required, but did not recommend an amount because of a lack of information on hospital costs and lost wages. The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act provides that "if the victim's losses are not ascertainable by the date that is 10 days prior to sentencing," the court "shall set a date for the final determination of the victim's losses, not to exceed 90 days after sentencing." 18 U. S. C. §3664(d)(5). On July 30, the District Court held a sentencing hearing and imposed a sentence of imprisonment and supervised release. On August 8, the court entered a judgment, stating that restitution was "applicable" but leaving open the amount of restitution given that no information had yet "been received regarding possible restitution payments." On October 5, 67 days later, an addendum documenting the restitution amount was added to the presentence report. The court did not set a hearing until February 4, about three months after the 90-day deadline had expired. At the hearing, Dolan argued that because that deadline had passed, the law no longer authorized restitution. Disagreeing, the court ordered restitution, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed. Continue reading ... Dolan v. United States Holland v. Florida No. 09-5327 Argued March 1, 2010 Decided June 14, 2010 Opinion Author: Breyer Petitioner Holland was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in Florida state court. After the State Supreme Court affirmed on direct appeal and denied collateral relief, Holland filed a pro se federal habeas corpus petition, which was approximately five weeks late under the 1-year statute of limitations set forth in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), 28 U. S. C. §2244(d). The record facts reveal, inter alia, that Holland's court-appointed attorney, Bradley Collins, had failed to file a timely federal petition, despite Holland's many letters emphasizing the importance of doing so; that Collins apparently did not do the research necessary to find out the proper filing date, despite the fact that Holland had identified the applicable legal rules for him; that Collins failed to inform Holland in a timely manner that the State Supreme Court had decided his case, despite Holland's many pleas for that information; and that Collins failed to communicate with Holland over a period of years, despite Holland's pleas for responses to his letters. Meanwhile, Holland repeatedly requested that the state courts and the Florida bar remove Collins from his case. Based on these and other record facts, Holland asked the Federal District Court to toll the AEDPA limitations period for equitable reasons. It refused, holding that he had not demonstrated the due diligence necessary to invoke equitable tolling. Affirming, the Eleventh Circuit held that, regardless of diligence, Holland's case did not constitute "extraordinary circumstances." Specifically, it held that when a petitioner seeks to excuse a late filing based on his attorney's unprofessional conduct, that conduct, even if grossly negligent, cannot justify equitable tolling absent proof of bad faith, dishonesty, divided loyalty, mental impairment, or the like. | |||
| Monday, June 07, 2010 | | ||
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Supreme Court Syllabi
Barber v. Thomas No. 09-5201 Argued March 30, 2010 Decided June 07, 2010 Opinion Author: Breyer The federal sentencing statute at issue provides that a "prisoner ... serving a term of imprisonment of more than 1 year ... may receive credit toward the service of [that] sentence ... of up to 54 days at the end of each year" subject to the Bureau of Prison's (BOP) "determination ... that, during that year, the prisoner" has behaved in an exemplary fashion. 18 U. S. C. §3624(b)(1). Credit "for the last year or portion of a year of the term of imprisonment [is] prorated ... ." Ibid. The BOP applies this statute using a methodology that awards 54 days of credit at the end of each year the prisoner serves and sets those days to the side. When the difference between the time remaining in the sentence and the amount of accumulated credit is less than one year, the BOP awards a prorated amount of credit for that final year proportional to the awards in other years. Continue reading Barber v. Thomas ... United States v Juvenile Male No. 09-940 Decided June 07, 2010 Opinion Author: Per Curiam ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT Per Curiam. In 2005, respondent was charged in the United States District Court for the District of Montana with juvenile delinquency under the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (FJDA), 18 U. S. C. §5031 et seq. Respondent eventually pleaded "true" to knowingly engaging in sexual acts with a person under 12 years of age, which would have been a crime under §§2241(c) and 1153(a) if committed by an adult. In June 2005, the District Court accepted respondent's plea and adjudged him delinquent. The court sentenced respondent to two years' official detention and juvenile delinquent supervision until his 21st birthday. The court also ordered respondent to spend the first six months of his juvenile supervision in a prerelease center and to abide by the center's conditions of residency. | |||
| Tuesday, June 01, 2010 | | ||
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| Supreme Court Syllabi
Carr v. United States No. 08-1301 Argued February 24, 2010 Decided June 01, 2010 Opinion Author: Sotomayor Enacted in 2006, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) makes it a federal crime for, inter alia, any person (1) who "is required to register under [SORNA]," and (2) who "travels in interstate or foreign commerce," to (3) "knowingly fai[l] to register or update a registration," 18 U. S. C. §2250(a). Before SORNA's enactment, petitioner Carr, a registered sex offender in Alabama, relocated to Indiana without complying with the latter State's registration requirements. Carr was indicted under §2250 post-SORNA. The Federal District Court denied Carr's motion to dismiss, which asserted that the §2250 prosecution would violate the Constitution's Ex Post Facto Clause because he had traveled to Indiana before SORNA's effective date. Carr then pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison. Affirming the conviction, the Seventh Circuit held that §2250 does not require that a defendant's travel postdate SORNA and that reliance on a defendant's pre-SORNA travel poses no ex post facto problem so long as the defendant had a reasonable time to register post-SORNA but failed to do so, as had Carr. Continue reading Carr v. United States ... Berghuis v. Thompkins No. 08-1470 Argued March 01, 2010 Decided June 01, 2010 Opinion Author: Kennedy After advising respondent Thompkins of his rights, in full compliance with Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436, Detective Helgert and another Michigan officer interrogated him about a shooting in which one victim died. At no point did Thompkins say that he wanted to remain silent, that he did not want to talk with the police, or that he wanted an attorney. He was largely silent during the 3-hour interrogation, but near the end, he answered "yes" when asked if he prayed to God to forgive him for the shooting. He moved to suppress his statements, claiming that he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, that he had not waived that right, and that his inculpatory statements were involuntary. The trial court denied the motion. At trial on first-degree murder and other charges, the prosecution called Eric Purifoy, who drove the van in which Thompkins and a third accomplice were riding at the time of the shooting, and who had been convicted of firearm offenses but acquitted of murder and assault. Thompkins' defense was that Purifoy was the shooter. Purifoy testified that he did not see who fired the shots. During closing arguments, the prosecution suggested that Purifoy lied about not seeing the shooter and pondered whether Purifoy's jury had made the right decision. Defense counsel did not ask the court to instruct the jury that it could consider evidence of the outcome of Purifoy's trial only to assess his credibility, not to establish Thompkins' guilt. The jury found Thompkins guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. In denying his motion for a new trial, the trial court rejected as nonprejudicial his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim for failure to request a limiting instruction about the outcome of Purifoy's trial. On appeal, the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected both Thompkins' Miranda and his ineffective-assistance claims. The Federal District Court denied his subsequent habeas request, reasoning that Thompkins did not invoke his right to remain silent and was not coerced into making statements during the interrogation, and that it was not unreasonable, for purposes of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), see 28 U. S. C. §2254(d)(1), for the State Court of Appeals to determine that he had waived his right to remain silent. The Sixth Circuit reversed, holding that the state court was unreasonable in finding an implied waiver of Thompkins' right to remain silent and in rejecting his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. | |||
| Monday, May 24, 2010 | | ||
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| Supreme Court Syllabi
United States v. Comstock
No. 08-1224 Federal law allows a district court to order the civil commitment of a mentally ill, sexually dangerous federal prisoner beyond the date he would otherwise be released. 18 U. S. C. §4248. The Government instituted civil-commitment proceedings under §4248 against respondents, each of whom moved to dismiss on the ground, inter alia, that, in enacting the statute, Congress exceeded its powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause, U. S. Const., Art. I, §8, cl. 18. Agreeing, the District Court granted dismissal, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed on the legislative-power ground. Continue Reading United States v. Comstock ... Abbott v. Abbott No. 08-645 After the Abbotts, a married couple, moved to Chile and separated, the Chilean courts granted respondent wife daily care and control of their minor son, A. J. A., while awarding petitioner husband visitation rights. Mr. Abbott also had a ne exeat right to consent before Ms. Abbott could take A. J. A. out of the country under Chile Minors Law 16,618 (Minors Law 16,618), art. 49. When Ms. Abbott brought A. J. A. to Texas without permission from Mr. Abbott or the Chilean family court, Mr. Abbott filed this suit in the Federal District Court, seeking an order requiring his son's return to Chile under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention) and the implementing statute, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA), 42 U. S. C. §11601 et seq. Among its provisions, the Convention seeks "to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed or retained in any Contracting State," Art. 1; provides that such "removal or retention ... is to be considered wrongful where" "it is in breach of rights of custody attributed to a person ... under the law of the State in which the child was [theretofore] habitually resident," Art. 3 (a), and where "those rights [had been] actually exercised ... or would have been so exercised but for the removal or retention," Art. 3 (b); and defines "rights of custody" to "include ... the right to determine the child's place of residence," Art. 5 (a). The District Court denied relief, holding that the father's ne exeat right did not constitute a "righ[t] of custody" under the Convention and, thus, that the return remedy was not authorized. The Fifth Circuit affirmed. Continue Reading Abbott v. Abbott ... Graham v. Florida
No. 08-7412 Petitioner Graham was 16 when he committed armed burglary and another crime. Under a plea agreement, the Florida trial court sentenced Graham to probation and withheld adjudication of guilt. Subsequently, the trial court found that Graham had violated the terms of his probation by committing additional crimes. The trial court adjudicated Graham guilty of the earlier charges, revoked his probation, and sentenced him to life in prison for the burglary. Because Florida has abolished its parole system, the life sentence left Graham no possibility of release except executive clemency. He challenged his sentence under the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause, but the State First District Court of Appeal affirmed. Continue Reading Graham v. Florida ... Sullivan v Florida
No. 08-7621 Continue Reading Sullivan v. Florida ... United States v.Marcus
No. 08-1341 Respondent Marcus was convicted of engaging in forced labor and sex trafficking between January 1999 and October 2001. On appeal, he pointed out for the first time that the federal statutes he violated did not become law until October 2000. Thus, he claimed, the indictment and evidence permitted at trial allowed a jury to convict him exclusively on the basis of preenactment conduct in violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause. He conceded that he had not raised this objection in the District Court, but argued that because the constitutional error was plain, his conviction must be set aside. The Second Circuit agreed and vacated the conviction. In doing so, the court held that, even in the case of a continuing offense, retrial is necessary if there is "any possibility, no matter how unlikely, that the jury could have convicted based exclusively on pre-enactment conduct." The court noted that this was "true even under plain error review." Continue Reading United States v.Marcus ... United States v. O'Brien
No. 08-1569 Respondents O'Brien and Burgess each carried a firearm during an attempted robbery. Count three of their indictment charged them with using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, which carries a mandatory minimum 5-year prison term. 18 U. S. C. §924(c)(1)(A)(i). Count four alleged use of a machinegun (here, a pistol that authorities believed operated as a fully automatic firearm) in furtherance of that crime, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum term. §924(c)(1)(B)(ii). The Government moved to dismiss the fourth count on the basis that it could not establish the count beyond a reasonable doubt, but it maintained that §924(c)(1)(B)(ii)'s machinegun provision was a sentencing enhancement to be determined by the District Court upon a conviction on count three. The court dismissed count four and rejected the Government's sentencing-enhancement position. Respondents then pleaded guilty to the remaining counts. The court sentenced O'Brien to a 102-month term and Burgess to an 84-month term for their §924(c) convictions. In affirming the District Court's §924(c)(1)(B)(ii) ruling, the First Circuit looked primarily to Castillo v. United States, 530 U. S. 120, which held that the machinegun provision in an earlier version of §924(c) constituted an element of an offense, not a sentencing factor. The court found that Castillo was "close to binding," absent clearer or more dramatic changes than those made by Congress' 1998 amendment of §924(c) or a clearer legislative history. Continue Reading United States v. O'Brien ... Robertson v. US ex rel. Watson
No. 08-6261 This is a complicated case, but it raises a straightforward and important threshold issue. When we granted certiorari, we rephrased the question presented to focus on that issue: "Whether an action for criminal contempt in a congressionally created court may constitutionally be brought in the name and pursuant to the power of a private person, rather than in the name and pursuant to the power of the United States." 558 U. S ___ (2009). The answer to that question is no. The terrifying force of the criminal justice system may only be brought to bear against an individual by society as a whole, through a prosecution brought on behalf of the government. The court below held otherwise, relying on a dissenting opinion in one of our cases, and on the litigating position of the United States, which the Solicitor General has properly abandoned in this Court. See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 12-13, n. 3. We should correct the lower court's error and return the case to that court to resolve the remaining questions. Continue Reading Robertson v. US ex rel. Watson ... Jefferson v. Upton
No. 09-8852 Petitioner Lawrence Jefferson, who has been sentenced to death, claimed in both state and federal courts that his lawyers were constitutionally inadequate because they failed to investigate a traumatic head injury that he suffered as a child. The state court rejected that claim after making a finding that the attorneys were advised by an expert that such investigation was unnecessary. Under the governing federal statute, that factual finding is presumed correct unless any one of eight exceptions applies. See 28 U. S. C. §§2254(d)(1)-(8) (1994 ed.). But the Court of Appeals considered only one of those exceptions (specifically §2254(d)(8)). And on that basis, it considered itself "duty-bound" to accept the state court's finding, and rejected Jefferson's claim. Because the Court of Appeals did not fully consider several remaining potentially applicable exceptions, we vacate its judgment and remand. | |||
| Tuesday, April 20, 2010 | | ||
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| Supreme Court Syllabi
United States v. Stevens No. 08-769 Congress enacted 18 U. S. C. section 48 to criminalize the commercial creation, sale, or possession of certain depictions of animal cruelty. The statute addresses only portrayals of harmful acts, not the underlying conduct. It applies to any visual or auditory depiction "in which a living animal is intentionally maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded, or killed," if that conduct violates federal or state law where "the creation, sale, or possession takes place," section 48(c)(1). Another clause exempts depictions with "serious religious, political, scientific, educational, journalistic, historical, or artistic value." section 48(b). The legislative background of section48 focused primarily on "crush videos," which feature the torture and killing of helpless animals and are said to appeal to persons with a specific sexual fetish. Respondent Stevens was indicted under section48 for selling videos depicting dogfighting. He moved to dismiss, arguing that section48 is facially invalid under the First Amendment. The District Court denied his motion, and Stevens was convicted. The Third Circuit vacated the conviction and declared section48 facially unconstitutional as a content-based regulation of protected speech. | |||
| Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | | ||
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Padilla v. Kentucky, No. 08-651
In postconviction proceedings arising from a drug distribution prosecution, after which petitioner faced deportation based on his guilty plea and claimed that his counsel failed to advise him of the consequences of the plea, denial of postconviction relief is reversed and remanded where, because counsel must inform a client whether his plea carries a risk of deportation, petitioner sufficiently alleged that his counsel was constitutionally deficient. Related Resources: | |||
| Monday, March 15, 2010 | | ||
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Supreme Court Syllabi
Bloate v. United States No. 08-728 The Speedy Trial Act of 1974 (Act) requires a criminal defendant's trial to commence within 70 days of his indictment or initial appearance, 18 U. S. C. §3161(c)(1), and entitles him to dismissal of the charges if that deadline is not met, §3162(a)(2). As relevant here, the Act automatically excludes from the 70-day period 'delay resulting from ... proceedings concerning the defendant," 18 U. S. C. A. §3161(h)(1) (hereinafter subsection (h)(1)), and separately permits a district court to exclude "delay resulting from a continuance" it grants, provided the court makes findings required by §3161(h)(7) (hereinafter subsection (h)(7)). Petitioner's indictment on federal firearm and drug possession charges started the 70-day clock on August 24, 2006. After petitioner's arraignment, the Magistrate Judge ordered the parties to file pretrial motions by September 13. On September 7, the court granted petitioner's motion to extend that deadline, but on the new due date, September 25, petitioner waived his right to file pretrial motions. On October 4, the Magistrate Judge found the waiver voluntary and intelligent. Over the next three months, petitioner's trial was delayed several times, often at petitioner's instigation. On February 19, 2007-179 days after he was indicted-he moved to dismiss the indictment, claiming that the Act's 70-day limit had elapsed. In denying the motion, the District Court excluded the time from September 7 through October 4 as pretrial motion preparation time. At trial, petitioner was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to concurrent prison terms. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial of the motion to dismiss, holding that the period from September 7 through October 4 was automatically excludable from the 70-day limit under subsection (h)(1). Continue reading Bloate v. United States ... =========================================================================================== Johnson v. United States
No. 08-6295 Petitioner Johnson pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. 18 U. S. C. §922(g)(1). The Government sought sentencing under the Armed Career Criminal Act, which authorizes an enhanced penalty for a person who violates §922(g) and who "has three previous convictions" for "a violent felony," §924(e)(1), defined as, inter alia, an offense that "has as an element the use ... of physical force against the person of another," §924(e)(2)(B)(i). Among the three prior felony convictions the Government proffered was Johnson's 2003 Florida conviction for simple battery, which ordinarily is a first-degree misdemeanor, Fla. Stat. §784.03(1)(b), but was a felony conviction for Johnson because he had previously been convicted of another battery, Fla. Stat. §784.03(2). Under Florida law, a battery occurs when a person either "[a]ctually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against [his] will," or "[i]ntentionally causes bodily harm to another person." §784.03(1)(a). Nothing in the record permitted the District Court to conclude that Johnson's 2003 conviction rested upon the "strik[ing]" or "[i]ntentionally caus[ing] bodily harm" elements of the offense. Accordingly, his conviction was a predicate conviction for a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act only if "[a]ctually and intentionally touch[ing]" another constitutes the use of "physical force" under §924(e)(2)(B)(i). Concluding it does, the District Court enhanced Johnson's sentence under §924(e)(1), sentencing him to a term of 15 years and 5 months. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. | |||
| Friday, February 26, 2010 | | ||
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| Supreme Court Syllabi
Maryland v. Shatzer No. 08-680 ========================================================================================= In 2003, a police detective tried to question respondent Shatzer, who was incarcerated at a Maryland prison pursuant to a prior conviction, about allegations that he had sexually abused his son. Shatzer invoked his Miranda right to have counsel present during interrogation, so the detective terminated the interview. Shatzer was released back into the general prison population, and the investigation was closed. Another detective reopened the investigation in 2006 and attempted to interrogate Shatzer, who was still incarcerated. Shatzer waived his Miranda rights and made inculpatory statements. The trial court refused to suppress those statements, reasoning that Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U. S. 477, did not apply because Shatzer had experienced a break in Miranda custody prior to the 2006 interrogation. Shatzer was convicted of sexual child abuse. The Court of Appeals of Maryland reversed, holding that the mere passage of time does not end the Edwards protections, and that, assuming, arguendo, a break-in-custody exception to Edwards existed, Shatzer's release back into the general prison population did not constitute such a break. | |||
| Monday, February 22, 2010 | | ||
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Supreme Court Syllabi
Wilkins v. Gaddy No. 08-10914 Decided February 22, 2010 Opinion Author: Per Curiam ========================================================================================== ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT Per Curiam. In Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U. S. 1, 4 (1992), this Court held that "the use of excessive physical force against a prisoner may constitute cruel and unusual punishment [even] when the inmate does not suffer serious injury." In this case, the District Court dismissed a prisoner's excessive force claim based entirely on its determination that his injuries were " de minimis." Because the District Court's approach, affirmed on appeal, is at odds with Hudson's direction to decide excessive force claims based on the nature of the force rather than the extent of the injury, the petition for certiorari is granted, and the judgment is reversed. Continue reading 'Wilkins v. Gaddy' ... Thaler v. Haynes No. 09-273 Decided February 22, 2010 Opinion Author: Per Curiam ========================================================================================== ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Per Curiam. This case presents the question whether any decision of this Court "clearly establishes" that a judge, in ruling on an objection to a peremptory challenge under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (1986), must reject a demeanor-based explanation for the challenge unless the judge personally observed and recalls the aspect of the prospective juror's demeanor on which the explanation is based. The Court of Appeals appears to have concluded that either Batson itself or Snyder v. Louisiana, 552 U. S. 472 (2008), clearly established such a rule, but the Court of Appeals read far too much into those decisions, and its holding, if allowed to stand, would have important implications. We therefore grant the petition for certiorari, grant respondent's motion to proceed in forma pauperis, and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals. | |||
| Friday, January 22, 2010 | | ||
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| Supreme Court News Updates
Judges CAN Disagree with the Career Offender Guideline Today, the Supreme Court GVR'd Vazquez v. United States (Case No. 09-5370), an 11th Circuit case. Judge Presnell originally sentenced Vazquez to 110 months' incarceration, down from the 210-262 month range for the career offender guideline. The Eleventh Circuit reversed, finding the sentence procedurally unreasonable because it rested on the district court's "disagreement with the guidelines, which was impermissible." At resentencing, J. Presnell found that "it may be" that the career offender guideline "is immune from the policy criticisms otherwise permissible" because the crack guidelines involved an "implied congressional policy" while the career offender guideline "is a product of direct congressional expression." The court resentenced Mr. Vazquez to 180 months' imprisonment, concluding: "[I]f I were allowed to consider what I consider to be the unjust application of 4B1.1 in this case, I would impose a sentence lower than 180 months." On appeal (by Mr. Vazquez), the Eleventh Circuit held that the district court's refusal to consider its policy disagreement with the career offender guideline was not procedurally unreasonable. The court believed itself bound by United States v. Williams, 456 F.3d 1353 (11th Cir. 2006), which held that the district court impermissibly ignored congressional policy by generally disagreeing with the career offender guideline. The court stated that district courts may vary from guidelines based on policy disagreements only "where Sentencing Commission policy judgment, not Congressional direction, underlies the Guideline at issue,'" and "'where that policy judgment did not arise from the Commission's exercise of its characteristic institutional role.'" Vazquez sought rehearing en banc. In his petition, Mr. Vazquez showed that the Eleventh Circuit was alone in its position (as none of the cases cited by the court really supported its position). Additionally, Mr. Vazquez cited to the fact that the Solicitor General had taken a position inconsistent with the Eleventh Circuit's opinion. The Eleventh Circuit denied rehearing. In his petition for writ of certiorari, Mr. Vazquez reiterated the points raised in his petition for rehearing. The Solicitor General agreed that the Eleventh Circuit opinion was wrong, and asked that the Supreme Court remand the case to the Eleventh Circuit so it could affirmatively know the Solicitor General's position. Today, the Supreme Court granted cert, vacated the Eleventh Circuit opinion, and remanded for further proceedings based on the Solicitor General's position. Carrying a Concealed Weapon Not a Violent Felony In Hunter v. United States (Case No. 09-122), the S Ct GVR'd another case from the 11th Circuit. Hunter was sentenced to 188 months as an Armed Career Criminal, based in part on two prior convictions for carrying a concealed weapon. To make another long procedural story short, the Solicitor General agreed that Hunter's claim (on a 2255) presented a "substantial showing" that his sentence under the ACCA, in light of Begay and Archer, violated due process because it was in excess of the ten-year statutory maximum otherwise applicable in 18 U.S.C. 922(g) cases. And today the Supreme Court vacated the Eleventh Circuit's order denying Hunter's certificate of appealability and remanded "for further consideration in light of the position asserted by the Solicitor General in her brief." Hunter v. United States, No. 09-122 (Jan. 19, 2010). | |||
| Tuesday, January 19, 2010 | | ||
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| Supreme Court Syllabi
Presley v. Georgia No. 09-5270 Decided January 19, 2010 Opinion Author: Per Curiam ================================================================================= ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA Per Curiam. Continue reading Presley v. Georgia ... Wellons v. Hall No. 09-5731 Decided January 19, 2010 Opinion Author: Per Curiam ================================================================================= ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Per Curiam. From beginning to end, judicial proceedings conducted for the purpose of deciding whether a defendant shall be put to death must be conducted with dignity and respect. The disturbing facts of this case raise serious questions concerning the conduct of the trial, and this petition raises a serious question about whether the Court of Appeals carefully reviewed those facts before addressing petitioners constitutional claims. We know that the Court of Appeals committed the same procedural error that we corrected in Cone v. Bell, 556 U. S. ___, ___ (2009) (slip op., at 1718). We do not know how the court would have ruled if it had the benefit of our decision in that case. | |||