Appellate Practice

High Court Allows Judges to Cut Crack Sentences Due to Policy Disagreement

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal judges may depart from federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine simply because they disagree with the harsh sentencing policy. The 5-4 unsigned summary decision in Spears v. United States clarified a 2007 ruling allowing sentencing departures in crack cocaine cases, SCOTUSblog reports.…

Jan 21, 2009 5:08 PM CST

Polanski Wins Calif. Appellate Review of Bias Claim re Child-Rape Case

A California appeals court has agreed to hear a claim by fugitive film director Roman Polanski that the criminal system has been biased in its handling of a decades-old child-rape case against him. Staying a planned Wednesday hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, the 2nd District Court of Appeals has…

Jan 21, 2009 1:05 AM CST

Investors in $32.6M Ponzi Scheme Win Only Camaraderie; Bank Not Liable

As in Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme, Bradford Bleidt stole $32.6 million by persuading those with social ties to give him money to “invest.” In Bleidt’s case, his victims were fellow Masons in the Boston area who typically had saved money for years while working at blue-collar jobs.…

Jan 20, 2009 7:19 PM CST

Will Unidentified Telecom Appeal Previously Secret Wiretap Ruling?

Secrecy makes it impossible for reporters to inquire whether a telecommunications company will appeal a previously undisclosed ruling rejecting a constitutional challenge to a law requiring cooperation in warrantless wiretaps. The case could go to the U.S. Supreme Court, but reporters can’t ask the telecom if it plans an appeal…

Jan 16, 2009 4:37 PM CST

Supreme Court Limits Exclusionary Rule, Allows Evidence Despite Police Error

The U.S. Supreme Court has found an exception to the exclusionary rule for negligent police errors. Tom Goldstein, a Supreme Court litigator who was involved in the case, calls today’s ruling in Herring v. United States “a significant shift in the court’s jurisprudence.” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote…

Jan 14, 2009 6:23 PM CST

Supreme Court Limits Apprendi; Scalia Hits ‘Strange Exception’

In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to extend a 2000 decision to bar judges from determining facts when deciding whether sentences should run consecutively. The court ruled today that the Sixth Amendment does not require juries, rather than judges, to find the facts for consecutive sentencing…

Jan 14, 2009 5:45 PM CST

30-Year Texas Death Row Inmate Gets 3rd Trial; Blacks Excluded from Jury

Twice convicted and sentenced to death in a 1978 rape-murder, based on eyewitness testimony and a claimed confession to a cellmate, Jonathan Bruce Reed has just won a third trial after serving nearly 30 years on death row in Texas. Because prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from the jury, fearing that…

Jan 13, 2009 9:31 PM CST

Whole Foods Lawyer: FTC Wants to ‘Put the Toothpaste Back in the Tube’

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal judge to stop further integration of Wild Oats Markets with Whole Foods, but an opposing lawyer says it’s already too late. The commission asked U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman of Washington, D.C., to order Wild Oats stores that became part of Whole…

Jan 13, 2009 6:20 PM CST

Juveniles Have Right to Counsel in Truancy Cases, Wash. Appeals Court Says

Reversing a trial judge, a Washington appeals court struck down today as unconstitutional a state law permitting a juvenile accused of chronic truancy to have his or her case initially adjudicated even if the child is not represented by a lawyer. Due process requires that the school district be required…

Jan 13, 2009 12:50 AM CST

Supreme Court to Hear Reverse Bias Case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide a reverse discrimination case challenging a city’s decision to throw out a firefighter promotion test because of poor results for minorities. Nineteen whites and one Hispanic claim in the consolidated suits that they would have been promoted to firefighter positions of…

Jan 12, 2009 12:07 PM CST

Skakel Lawyers: Prosecutors Withheld Evidence in Murder Case

After being convicted in 2002 of a murder committed in 1975 in upscale Greenwich, Conn., when he was a teenager, Michael Skakel has already served six years in state prison. But lawyers for the Kennedy family cousin say in a federal court motion filed late yesterday that he might have…

Jan 10, 2009 12:52 AM CST

Supreme Court Will Hear ‘Powder Keg’ Voting Rights Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted a “powder keg” voting rights case that challenges the law requiring Justice Department clearance for changed election procedures in certain jurisdictions. The case affects nine states, mostly in the South, and several other local voting bodies that are required to get clearance under the…

Jan 9, 2009 7:52 PM CST

D.C. Circuit Won’t Review Enemy Combatant Status of Gitmo Detainees

About 175 cases filed by Guantanamo detainees seeking a review of their enemy combatant designations won’t get a federal appeals court hearing under a decision today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The appeals court ruled it no longer has jurisdiction to hear challenges to enemy…

Jan 9, 2009 5:10 PM CST

Appeals Court Strikes Down US Civil Commitment Law for Sexually Dangerous

A federal appeals court has struck down a 2006 federal law providing for indefinite civil commitment of sexually dangerous inmates after their prison terms end. The Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Congress intruded on powers reserved for the states, report the Associated Press and the Richmond…

Jan 9, 2009 2:28 PM CST

Voting Rights Appeal Offers ‘Potentially Defining Moment’ for Chief Justice

The U.S. Supreme Court could decide as early as today whether to hold a hearing on an appeal that contends a section of the Voting Rights Act renewed two years ago is an unconstitutional regulation of the states. The Supreme Court is required to review all cases involving the Voting…

Jan 9, 2009 1:10 PM CST