Americans who have been shocked by the harsh conditions of confinement accorded to foreign detainees at places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay would do well to read this decision. It describes some of the standard and generally accepted conditions that exist in America’s “super-max” prisons - a new type ...

U.S. v. Johnson, 410 F.3d 137 (4th Cir. 06/08/05) (Judge Motz)
U.S. v. McGough, 412 F.3d 1232 (11th Cir. 06/15/05) (Judge Cox)

Both of these cases address the so-called “community-caretaking exception” - another one of those amorphous, judicially-invented exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement that tend ultimately to overwhelm ...

The petitioner in this case, Jay Shawn Johnson, an African-American, was convicted in a California court of second-degree murder of a white 19-month-old child. During jury selection, a number of prospective jurors were removed for cause until 43 eligible jurors remained, 3 of whom were black. The prosecutor then used ...

In 1986, the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), relating to the use of peremptory challenges for discriminatory purposes. In that case the Court held that when a prosecutor bases peremptory challenges on race, even in just one case, those challenges violate ...

After Judge Presnell denied the defendant’s motion to suppress certain evidence, Jesus Delgado sought to enter a conditional guilty plea pursuant to Rule 11(a)(2) of the Fed.R.Crim.P. That Rule permits a defendant to enter a conditional guilty plea “with the consent of the court and the government, . . . ...

U.S. v. Johnson, 410 F.3d 137 (4th Cir. 06/08/05) (Judge Motz)
U.S. v. McGough, 412 F.3d 1232 (11th Cir. 06/15/05) (Judge Cox)

Both of these cases address the so-called “community-caretaking exception” - another one of those amorphous, judicially-invented exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement that tend ultimately to overwhelm ...