Here, joining 7 other Circuits, the Court held that a defendant is not eligible for a safety valve sentence reduction if he has more than three criminal history points, even if the court determines that his criminal history category should be reduced.
The issue presented in this case was whether ...
The most honest measure of the criminal justice system is how it operates in the smallest and least consequential cases. If the Government acts with impunity in those cases, its incentive to abuse the system only becomes greater as the stakes rise. In this case, the defendant, William Danielson, was ...
Petitioner sought habeas corpus relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, claiming that the United States Supreme Court's decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001) should be extended to inadmissible aliens, and that petitioner should be released from Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) custody since his post-removal detention ...
An initial response from foreigh authority, which inadvertently omitted several documents within the subject matter if the Government's request for evidence, did not constitute a "final action" for purposes of tolling the statute of limitations.
In this case, the Court held that a "final action" for the purposes of 18 ...
In a decision that will impact few appeals, the Court debated when a habeas appeal is deemed "pending," and then the majority held only death row inmates who had filed a full blown appeal before the effective date of the AEDPA qualified for relief.
It is hard to imagine why ...
On March 20, 2003, United States Senator John Ensign (R-NV) introduced the latest version of prisoner-bashing legislation to the U.S. Senate - namely the “Mandatory Prisoner Work and Drug Testing Act of 2003" (S. 672) (herein “MPW”). (The full text of the MPW is available on the Internet on the ...
On the positive side of this case, the petitioner, Theodore Berkey, will at least have a few small consolations to muse about as he spends the next 30 years of his life in prison. For example, he may take some solace in knowing that his defense counsel, George Roylston of ...
Here the Court held that the district court had erred when it denied a defense motion to compel the BOP to produce tapes of some recorded conversations between cooperating co-conspirators and their attorneys on the grounds the tapes were privileged.
This consolidated appeal involved the convictions of three individuals on ...
