Since the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Booker, and the emphasis it placed on the “reasonableness” of a sentence, numerous commentators have noted that the appellate courts seem to have ignored the so-called “parsimony provision” of the Federal sentencing statutes - namely the mandate contained in 18 U.S.C. § …
This is an interesting decision regarding the Government’s burden of proof in a prosecution against a defendant for harboring an alien - an issue that could become vastly more important as the Government moves to prosecute more and more illegal aliens and those who assist them.
The precise issue before …
A couple of recent events raise troubling questions about whether the police state has finally and irrevocably arrived in America. Both events send a strong message about the manner in which our government treats its citizens; and they also emphasize the therapeutic value of constant vigilance against the ever-present efforts …
In the latest sequel to the Government’s long-running drama involving the alleged terrorist Jose Padilla, the Eleventh Circuit ruled in favor of the Department of Justice and reinstated a key terrorism charge against Padilla that allows it to pursue a life sentence if he is convicted.
Padilla, an American citizen, …
Robert Mercado and Daniel Bravo were each charged with RICO and drug conspiracies and a slew of other gun, murder and racketeering crimes in a case against alleged members of the Mexican Mafia. A jury convicted both defendants of the RICO and drug conspiracies (for which the Guideline sentencing range …
In theory, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(1) permits a person serving a term of supervised release to seek early termination of such supervision if such action “is warranted by the conduct of the defendant released and the interest of justice.” In fact, instances of a court granting such early release are …
In this case, District Judge W. Louis Sands found that the sheriff and other officials of Terrell County, GA were deliberately indifferent to the “grossly deficient” conditions in the local jail in numerous areas, including medical care, mental health care, protection from harm, environmental health and safety, and fire safety. …
In an important and scathing 76-page ruling, District Judge R. Barclay Surrick concluded that Philadelphia's jails are so overcrowded and dangerous that they violate the constitutional rights of inmates. He found, for example, that “[t]he City has been aware of the prison overcrowding problem for years and has failed to …
Here Judge Gertner presented a noteworthy explanation of, and justification for, her use of “aberrant behavior” as a means of granting a sentencing variance to a first time offender in a drug case - contrary to the language of the PATRIOT Act.
Judge Nancy Gertner’s sentencing decisions never disappoint. Once …
