Among the many issues raised in this appeal, the defendant challenged the constitutionality of a search of the text messages on his cell phone that took place incident to his arrest. The defendant argued, inter alia, that the search was improper since the police had no warrant and since the ...

During the period between February 2003 and October 2006, Douglas Frownfelter received some $24,596 in monthly adoption subsidy payments for a child that he and his former wife had adopted - but who was living with his former wife at the time those payments were made to him. Ultimately, Frownfelter ...

In this case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit held that a district court had abused its discretion in the management of jury deliberations when, after the administration of an unsuccessful Allen charge (see, Allen v. U.S., 164 U.S. 492 (1896)) and over the defendant’s objections, it inquired into the ...

Here a divied panel took sharp issue with the Second Circuit’s counter-intuitive decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum to the effect that the Alien Tort statute does not give U.S. courts jurisdiction to hear cases against corporations.

Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, No. 09-7125 (D.C. Cir. July 8, 2011) ...

Here the Court vacated a restitution order to the victims of a child pornography crime because the Government haf failed to prove that the defendant’s possession of those images had “proximately caused” the losses, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 2259.

The courts continue to debate the proper interpretation of ...

Here the Court took sharp issue with the Second Circuit’s counter-intuitive decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum to the effect that the Alien Tort statute does not give U.S. courts jurisdiction to hear cases against corporations.

Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corporation, No. 09-7125 (D.C. Cir. July 8, 2011) (Judge ...

Here the Court issued an important death penalty ruling in which iy held that Ohio has an unconstitutional death penalty policy because it’s injection protocols, “with unlimited capacity for deviation”, violate the Equal Protection Clause.

This is an important death penalty case in which the court found that the lethal ...

Here a divided en banc court from the Fourth Circuit held, by a 9-3 vote, that a police officer who shot an unarmed suspect in 2003 is not entitled to the defense of qualified immunity based on the Supreme Court’s holding in Tennessee v. Garner.

This is another of a ...