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Punch and Jurists: August 9, 2010

Issue PDF
Volume 17, Number 16

In this issue:

  1. Giron v. City of Alexander, No. 4:07-CV-00568 GTE (E.D.Ark.) (693 F.Supp.2d 904) (March 5, 2010) (Judge Garnett Thomas Eisele) (p None)
  2. U.S. v. Marzzarella, No. 09-3185 (3rd Cir.) (614 F.3d 85) (July 29, 2010) (Judge Anthony J. Scirica) (p None)
  3. In Re: Any and All Funds or Other Assets in Brown Brothers Harriman Account # 8870792, No. 09-5065 (D.C. Cir.) (613 F.3d 1122) (July 16, 2010) (Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh) (p None)
  4. A.C.L.U. v. Department of Defense, No. 04 Civ. 4151 (AKH) (S.D.N.Y.) (723 F.Supp.2d 621) (July 15, 2010) (Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein) (p None)
  5. U.S. v. Awad, No. 07-4483-cr (2nd Cir.) (598 F.3d 76) (March 11, 2010) (Per Curiam) (p None)
  6. U.S. v. Williams, No. 09-3174 (7th Cir.) (616 F.3d 685) (August 5, 2010) (Judge Michael S. Kanne) (p None)
  7. U.S. v. Davis, No. 08-3240-cr (2nd Cir.) (598 F.3d 10) (March 10, 2010) (Judge Robert D. Sack) (p None)
  8. In Re: United States, No. 10-2766 (7th Cir.) (614 F.3d 661) (July 30, 2010) (Judge Richard A. Posner) (p None)
  9. U.S. v. Maynard, No. 08-3030 (D.C. Cir.) (615 F.3d 544) (August 6, 2010) (Judge Douglas Ginsburg) (p None)

Giron v. City of Alexander, No. 4:07-CV-00568 GTE (E.D.Ark.) (693 F.Supp.2d 904) (March 5, 2010) (Judge Garnett Thomas Eisele)

As the nation grapples with a growing surge of anti-immigrant legislation, this thoughtful decision by the distinguished Senior District Judge Garnett Thomas Eisele, Jr. of the E.D.Ark. is a timely reminder of some of the legal problems and remedies created by racial profiling. In this case, a group of ten …

U.S. v. Marzzarella, No. 09-3185 (3rd Cir.) (614 F.3d 85) (July 29, 2010) (Judge Anthony J. Scirica)

Here the Court rejected a post-Heller Second Amendment challenge to the constitutional validity of 18 U.S.C. § 922(k), which makes it a Federal crime to possess a firearm that has the manufacturer’s serial number obliterated or removed.

U.S. v. Williams, 616 F.3d 685 (7th Cir. August 5, 2010) (Judge Kanne) …

In Re: Any and All Funds or Other Assets in Brown Brothers Harriman Account # 8870792, No. 09-5065 (D.C. Cir.) (613 F.3d 1122) (July 16, 2010) (Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh)

Here the Court refused to expand the U.S. Justice Department's ability to restrain assets in the United States pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2467(d)(3) based solely on a foreign official's allegation of a violation of the laws of a foreign country.

The issue before the Court in this case was …

A.C.L.U. v. Department of Defense, No. 04 Civ. 4151 (AKH) (S.D.N.Y.) (723 F.Supp.2d 621) (July 15, 2010) (Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein)

In this long running Freedom of Information Act case, Judge Hellerstein held that determinations by the Director of the CIA that materials are exempt from disclosure under FOIA are not subject to review by the Federal courts for illegality.

The origins of this case go back to 2003 when the …

U.S. v. Awad, No. 07-4483-cr (2nd Cir.) (598 F.3d 76) (March 11, 2010) (Per Curiam)

In defendants' appeal from an order of criminal forfeiture against defendants pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853, the order is affirmed where § 853 permits imposition of a money judgment on a defendant who possesses no assets at the time of sentencing.

Two defendants in a large khat prosecution appealed …

U.S. v. Williams, No. 09-3174 (7th Cir.) (616 F.3d 685) (August 5, 2010) (Judge Michael S. Kanne)

Here the Court rejected a Second Amendment challenge to the constitutional validity of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which bars all convicted felons from possessing firearms, but suggested that a challenge to that statute by a non-violent felon might succeed.

U.S. v. Williams, 616 F.3d 685 (7th Cir. August 5, 2010) …

U.S. v. Davis, No. 08-3240-cr (2nd Cir.) (598 F.3d 10) (March 10, 2010) (Judge Robert D. Sack)

Government's motion for summary affirmance of defendant's child pornography possession sentence before the appeal of the sentence had been fully briefed is denied where the appeal rested on neither fanciful allegations of fact nor inarguable assertions of law.

[Editor's Note: For some commentaries on this decision, see:

• "Second Circuit …

In Re: United States, No. 10-2766 (7th Cir.) (614 F.3d 661) (July 30, 2010) (Judge Richard A. Posner)

In an extremely rare and vituperative judicial donnybrook, an outraged panel from the Seventh Circuit unleashed a tirade of acrimonious anger on the head of the presiding Chief Judge of the N.D. of Illinois, James F. Holderman; and then summarily dismissed him as the trial judge in an ongoing drug …

U.S. v. Maynard, No. 08-3030 (D.C. Cir.) (615 F.3d 544) (August 6, 2010) (Judge Douglas Ginsburg)

Here the D.C. Circuit became the first Federal Appellate Court to hold that the police need a warrant, based on probable cause, to use a GPS tracking device on a vehicle to track a person’s movements for an extended period of time.

In an important ruling about the intrusive realities …