The defendant in this interesting search and seizure case, Michael Hodson, entered a conditional guilty plea in the district court for the E.D.Ky. on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2) and (a)(4)(B); but he reserved his right to appeal a denial of ...

[Editor's Note: For a commentary on this decision, see "Glitter and Begay," by Steve Statsinger, as posted on the Second Circuit Blog at http://circuit2.blogspot.com/2008/07/glitter-and-begay.html on July 30, 2008, as follows:

"In New York, reckless endangerment in the first degree involves conduct “evincing a depraved indifference to human life” that “creates ...

Here the Court held that a Utah state statute that is based on the Adam Walsh Act and which requires sex offenders to register their Internet screen names and passwords violates the First Amendment, including the right to anonymous online speech.

This case involves a constitutional challenge to a recently ...

Sentences for fraud and fraud-related offenses are affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded where: 1) the district court incorrectly calculated the number of victims affected by defendants' conduct; but 2) the circuit court rejects an argument that an individual who is reimbursed for his economic loss cannot qualify ...

In a prosecution for drug-related offenses, grant of a motion to suppress post-arrest statements and evidence obtained from defendant's apartment and car is reversed where agents had probable cause to arrest defendant based on known or reasonably trustworthy information possessed by agents.

[Editor's Note: For a commentary on this decision, ...

[Editor's Note: For a commentary on this decision, see "Second Circuit Affirms Imposition of a Ten-Year Statutory Mandatory Minimum in Place at the Time of the Offense Despite Its Expiration Prior to the Sentencing Date," as posted on Sentencing Law and Policy at http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2008/08/second-circuit.html on Aug. 4, 2008; and see ...

Pavel Lazarenko was a colorful figure in Ukrainian politics who formed multiple business relationships around the world and engaged in a tangled series of business transactions that netted him millions of dollars. In an effort to conceal from the Ukranian people the sources and ownership of the funds that he ...

Here the Court reversed a district court's order granting a JNOV and a new trial to a prison guard who was convicted of violating the civil rights of a pre-trial inmate by brutally beating him and causing injuries from which the inmate ultimately died.

Paul Cote was a prison guard ...

Judge Bennett has written another compelling and fascinating decision in which he explained his rationale for reducing a defendant’s sentence “as a sanction for the prosecution’s serious breach of the defendant’s plea agreement.” Concluding that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the N.D.Iowa was a “repeat offender,” and had acted “egregiously” ...

Here the Court held that a 30-year mandatory minimum sentence required under a provision of the Adam Walsh Act was so grossly disproportionate to the defendant’s crime as to constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

This case involves a constitutional challenge to an important provision ...