Loaded on
July 23, 2012
published in Punch and Jurists
July 23, 2012
The plaintiffs in this case, owners and operators of motels in the City of Los Angeles, brought a civil action in the Federal courts challenging the constitutionality of a city ordinance (herein “LAMC § 41.49") requiring motel owners and operators to maintain for at least 90 days certain guest registry ...
Loaded on
July 23, 2012
published in Punch and Jurists
July 23, 2012
Here the Court rejected the terms of a proposed plea agreement in a child pornography case because it required to defendant to waive all of his rights to appellate review of the sentence that would be imposed; and it sharply criticized such waivers.
In this provocative and powerful decision, Judge ...
Loaded on
July 23, 2012
published in Punch and Jurists
July 23, 2012
Here the Court affirmed, as substantively reasonable, sentences of probation imposed on two white collar defendants convicted of fraud in Boston's Big Dig project despite a Guidelines’ sentencing range of 87 to 108 months.
This decision is a veritable sentencing banquet for anyone seeking support for huge below-the Guidelines sentence ...
Loaded on
July 23, 2012
published in Punch and Jurists
July 23, 2012
Here the Court granted a judgment of acquittal after finding that the Government’s case against the defendant consisted of using “smoke and mirrors” and required “unreasonable inferences” that were little more than “a stretch of pure speculation.
It takes a lot of courage for a Federal judge to accuse the ...
Loaded on
July 23, 2012
published in Punch and Jurists
July 23, 2012
Here the Court joined with a plurality of the Circuits and held that before a district court awards restitution to the victims of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2259, it must make a finding of the damages proximately caused by the defendant.
The Mandatory Restitution for Sexual Exploitation of ...
Loaded on
July 23, 2012
published in Punch and Jurists
July 23, 2012
Here the Court held that a person can be convicted of child enticement under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) even when he never had any direct communications with the child and his sole communications were with a person he knew to be an adult.
The defendant in this case, Gustavo Olvera, ...