In this 58-page decision, Judge Thomas Hogan of the D.D.C. threw out a lawsuit against former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and three officers in the United States Army that was brought on behalf of nine former prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan who alleged that they were subjected to ...

This unpublished decision is noted for its extended discussion of whether, and, if so, to what degree, a sentencing court may use a criminal defendant’s past military service as a basis for a downward departure from the sentence recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines. That issue indirectly involves the continuing validity, ...

Last summer, in Memije v. Gonzales, 187 Fed. Appx. 775 (9th Cir. July 3, 2006) (“Memije I”), a panel from the Ninth Circuit rejected an appeal by two Mexican immigrants, a husband and wide, who want to remain in this country with their four U.S.-born children. The petitioners, who have ...

Leave it to Judge Adelman to sort through the maze of conflicting decisions and confounding directions from the appellate courts to find and describe a clearly-delineated path around some of the craziness generated by the 100:1 crack/powder cocaine sentencing ratio.

The defendant in this case, Michelle Willis, pled guilty to ...

For the third time in two years, the Ninth Circuit has considered whether a district-wide policy that requires all pretrial detainees making their first appearance before a magistrate judge to wear leg shackles violates the due process rights of those detainees. (See, prior decisions reported at 429 F.3d 843 (9th ...

Here the Court held that a sentencing court has no obligation to consider that defendant was a police officer (and thus subject to harsher treatment in prison) when imposing sentence.

The three defendants in this case were convicted of a variety of federal offenses, including mail fraud, RICO, and money ...

Here the Court held (a) that a defendant who signed a waiver of appellate rights did not waive her right to challenge a restitution order which she claimed was unlawful under the MVRA and (b) that a restitution order cannot be based on relevant conduct.

This is an important restitution ...

Here the Court held that a sentence imposed in violation of Apprendi v. New Jersey (which requires a jury determination of facts that increase a sentence beyond the statutory maximum) will nonetheless stand if the Apprendi error was harmless.