In this case (Rodriguez II), Judge Carnes lashed out at some of the growing criticism of his rigid plain-error stance on Booker appeals. Earlier, in a decision written by Judge Carnes and reported at 398 F.3d 1291 (Rodriguez I), the Eleventh Circuit essentially concluded that almost no Booker error could ...
Petitioner pro se inmate filed the instant habeas petition and challenged the method used by defendant Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to calculate good time credits, and the policy of the BOP regarding placement of inmates in community corrections centers (CCCs), sometimes referred to as halfway houses in relation to 18 ...
This decision examined the PLRA's strict exhaustion requirements; and it held that a prison’s administrative grievance proceeding “can in no way be the ‘main event’ in a prisoner’s attempt to have a constitutional violation redressed.”.
Viet Mike Ngo, who is serving a life sentence in the California state prison system, ...
One of the defendants in this case, Gilles Mercier, was arrested on May 13, 2003 after, after a routine traffic stip, the police found more than 100 pounds of marijuana in his car. He was charged immediately with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; but he was not formally ...
This case discusses two important discovery issues: what is the scope of the Government’s duty to disclose exculpatory evidence before trial?; and how should conflicts between the duty to disclose and the Jencks Act be reconciled?.
The indictment in this case charged 42 members of the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club ...
Prior to this ruling, at least two judges had concluded that Booker opens up the possibility of reevaluating the onerous prison sentences mandated by the Guidelines for crack cocaine offenses compared with powder cocaine offenses. (Under the Guidelines, it takes 100 times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine to ...
In their habeas petitions, petitioner alien detainees requested a preliminary injunction ordering respondents, the President of the United States, the Secretary, United States Department of Defense, and army officers, to provide advance notice of petitioners' transfer from the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Respondents moved to stay ...
Eureka! We have finally found a published decision in which a court actually granted a defendant’s motion, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(1), for early termination of supervised release. That statute permits the court to grant such early termination at any time after the expiration of one year of supervised ...
Many defense lawyers are reluctant to fight too hard to correct what they consider to be insignificant inaccuracies that often appear in a presentence report (PSI). They assume (understandably) that (a) raising such issues will only tick off the judge, and (b) the items in question won’t have any impact ...
