Skip navigation

Punch and Jurists: September 3, 2012

Issue PDF
Volume 19, Number 18

In this issue:

  1. Bell v. Howes, No. 2:06-CV-15086 (E.D.Mich.) (841 F.Supp.2d 1018) (January 18, 2012) (Judge Arthur Tarnow) (p None)
  2. U.S. v. Burge, No. 11-3495 (7th Cir.) (683 F.3d 829) (June 27, 2012) (Judge Clyde H. Hamilton) (p None)
  3. Shelton v. Secretary, Dept. of Corrections, No. 11-13515 (11th Cir.) ( F.3d ) (August 24, 2012) (Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham) (p None)
  4. U.S. v. Skinner, No. 09-6497 (6th Cir.) (690 F.3d 772) (August 14, 2012) (Judge John M. Rogers) (p None)
  5. U.S. v. Shippley, No. 11-1076 (10th Cir.) (690 F.3d 1192) (August 14, 2012) (Judge Neil M. Gorsuch) (p None)
  6. U.S. v. Castillo, No. 11-2792 (7th Cir.) (695 F.3d 672) (August 22, 2012) (Judge Richard A. Posner) (p None)

Bell v. Howes, No. 2:06-CV-15086 (E.D.Mich.) (841 F.Supp.2d 1018) (January 18, 2012) (Judge Arthur Tarnow)

Here the Court held that the fact that a person, who was on release due to the grant of a conditional writ of habeas corpus, tested positive on five separate occasions to marijuana was not suffiucient cause to revoke his bail.

Thanks to District Judge Arthur Tarnow, Arthur Bell is ...

U.S. v. Burge, No. 11-3495 (7th Cir.) (683 F.3d 829) (June 27, 2012) (Judge Clyde H. Hamilton)

This case is a good example of how blind adherence to the Guidelines paint-by-the-numbers philosophy can lead to absurd results that defy common sense. Fortunately, at least in this case, wisdom and justice prevailed in the end to excise the lunacy of a mandatory minimum sentence that was imposed because, ...

Shelton v. Secretary, Dept. of Corrections, No. 11-13515 (11th Cir.) ( F.3d ) (August 24, 2012) (Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham)

Because the foundations of our criminal justice system, which date back to the earliest days of common law, are so well established, it is rare to see a debate that strikes at one of great cornerstone of that system - namely the profoundly important principle of due process. Yet, that ...

U.S. v. Skinner, No. 09-6497 (6th Cir.) (690 F.3d 772) (August 14, 2012) (Judge John M. Rogers)

In U.S. v. Jones, 565 U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 945 (2012), the Supreme Court unanimously held that physically attaching a GPS tracking device to a vehicle constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment - although, in the majority and two concurring opinions, the Justices largely agreed on little else.

Jones ...

U.S. v. Shippley, No. 11-1076 (10th Cir.) (690 F.3d 1192) (August 14, 2012) (Judge Neil M. Gorsuch)

Anthony Shippley, who served as the “Sergeant at Arms” for a chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, was tried on various drug conspiracy charges. As the Court then explained: “At the end of trial, though, something strange happened. The jury returned a general verdict finding Mr. Shippley guilty of the ...

U.S. v. Castillo, No. 11-2792 (7th Cir.) (695 F.3d 672) (August 22, 2012) (Judge Richard A. Posner)

Any defense counsel who has ever sought to challenge a Government request for an above-Guidelines sentence knows that the task is not only daunting, it can be downright confusing - a fact absolutely confirmed by Judge Posner in the instant case.

Here, Francisco Castillo pled guilty to conspiring to make ...