The petitioner, an inmate assigned to a community confinement center or halfway house (CCC), brought an action seeking to prevent the BOP from reassigning her - based on a new and retroactive interpretation of its powers.

The BOP announced its policy change regarding its discretion in choosing the correctional facility ...

Here the Court granted the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the BOP, barring his re-designation to a prison camp from a halfway house pursuant to a new BOP policy, on the grounds the change would violate the Ex Post Facto Clause.

Here the plaintiff inmate challenged his re-designation ...

In December, we noted the predecessor decision in this case, which was reported at 225 F.Supp.2d 870 (N.D.Ill. 2002) (P&J, 12/16/02) (“Legal Aid I”). In that case, the plaintiff legal aid organization (“First Defense”) sought an injunction from the district court barring the Chicago police department from continuing a relatively ...

In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids a prosecutor from using peremptory challenges to exclude African-Americans from jury service because of their race. The Court then articulated a three-step process for proving such violations. First, ...

Here the Court held that the limitation contained in 28 USC § 2244(b)(1) - which bars presentation of claims in a second habeas application that were presented in a prior application - also applies to applications filed pursuant to 28 USC § 2255.

In this case, the petitioner sought review ...

By a vote of 8 to 1, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that is destined to have a far reaching impact on both habeas litigation and on the continuing battle over the use of race as a factor in jury selection. (It may be more accurate to report the ...

In December, 2002, in a decision written by Judge Reinhardt (who is regarded by many as one of the Court’s most liberal judges), a panel from the Ninth Circuit held that the Second Amendment does not guarantee individuals the right to possess firearms; and that the Amendment only gives state-run ...

Here the Court recersed a conviction for criminal contempt due to insufficient evidence where the government did not introduce competent evidence that defendant refused to testify before the district court grand jury.

The appellant inmate in this case was convicted of criminal contempt for refusing to obey the United States ...

The dual sovereignty doctrine permits a successive prosecution in federal court where defendant was acquitted of murder in state court, because the "sham prosecution" exception to that doctrine did not apply under the facts.

Defendant was acquitted, in state court, of the murder of his wife. A federal grand jury ...

Here the Court ordered a new trial based on Batson violations because of the failure of the State to provide direct evidence of the motivations of the prosecutor who actually struck nine Blacks from the jury pool but relied on an assistant's recollections.

The petitioner in this case, a Vietnamese ...

[Editor's Note: See also related decision at Howard v. Ashcroft, 248 F.Supp.2d 518 (M.D.La. 2003)].

Here the Court held that the BOP exceeded its authority under the Administrative Procedure Act by adopting a new, retroactive policy regarding the placement of inmates in halfway houses and granted an injunction against the ...

An all-white jury sentenced the petitioner, an African-American, to death for the first degree murder, armed robbery, and attempted rape of a 63-year old white woman. After sentencing, it was discovered that the mother of one jury member had been sexually assaulted and murdered during a robbery. This juror allegedly ...

Here the reversed and ordered that a writ of habeas corpus be granted due to Batson violations during jury selection where the lower court relied primarily on the ultimate mixed composition of the jury but ignored clear evidence of bias.

In this case the Fourth Circuit reversed a finding by ...