James Myers, who had previously been convicted of a felony, pled guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. The firearm at issue in this case qualified as a “semiautomatic assault weapon,” as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(30), the possession of which (at least for a time) ...

In an issue of first impression in the First Circuit, the Court addressed the validity of a special condition of supervised release that imposed a total ban on a defendant’s home use of the Internet - although its ruling was limited to an extremely narrow set of circumstances - namely ...

The question before the Court in this case was whether the plain error standard of review set forth in Rule 52(b) applies when a prosecutor breaches a plea agreement that results in a defendant’s conviction, but the breach is raised for the first time on appeal.

Resolving a conflict among ...

This is another of a seemingly endless series of recent decisions from the Supreme Court dealing with the meaning of “ineffective assistance of counsel” under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). It is also another in the seemingly endless series of decisions striking down yet another habeas petition granted ...

Plata v. Schwarzenegger, 560 F.3d 976 (9th Cir. Mar. 25, 2009) (Judge Canby)
Plata v. Schwarzenegger, No. CV 01-1351 THE (N.D.Cal. Mar. 24, 2009) (Judge Henderson)

We recently noted a case in which a special three-judge panel from California tentatively ruled that the state must reduce its prison population by ...

This decision is noted for its comprehensive analysis of the law on constructive possession of a firearm. It is also noted for its straightforward conclusion that “the mere fact that [the defendant] was driving the car in which the police found the firearm is not enough to establish dominion over ...

Historically, polygraph evidence has been viewed with great disfavor by the Federal courts. Not only are the results of polygraph exams generally inadmissible, there is not even any consensus that polygraph evidence is scientifically reliable. (See, U.S. v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 309 (1998)). Thus, while polygraphs may have an ...

An appeal from a conviction for distribution and possession of marijuana and conspiracy to distribute marijuana is held in abeyance as the issues raised on defendant's Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33 motion remained before the district court.

[Editor's Note: For a commentary on this decision, see "On Hold," by ...

In conviction for receiving and possessing child pornography and traveling outside the U.S. with intent to engage in sexual acts with minors, order declining to resentence defendant is affirmed over claims of error that: 1) defendant's sentence of concurrent 262-month prison terms on each count followed by concurrent-year terms for ...

In this case, three convicted felons from Tennessee filed a lawsuit against various state officials challenging a 2006 Tennessee statute that made the restoration of voting rights for people convicted of crimes contingent on the payment of all outstanding legal financial obligations, namely restitution and child support fees. The suit ...

Here the en banc Court affirmed - but radically toned down - a panel's prior, controversial decision regarding thermal imaging warrants by concluding that probable cause existed for the issuance of those warrants - not just reasonable suspicion.

In U.S. v. Kattaria, 503 F.3d 703 (8th Cir. Oct. 5, 2007) ...

In conviction of defendant-career offender who was granted a departure for sentencing, denial of defendant's motion for a reduced sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and the so-call crack amendments is vacated and remanded where defendant who was designated a career offender but ultimately explicitly sentenced based on a ...