Detective Timothy Palchak, who the Court described as an “undercover operative” from the Metropolitan Police Department in the District of Columbia, engaged in a private online chat with John Bigley, a 75 year old resident of New Castle, Pennsylvania. The particular chat room was frequented by individuals with a sexual ...

This is an interesting decision that addresses a petition filed by the Probation Department, some ten years after the defendant was sentenced and while he was still in prison, seeking to expand the number and scope of the special conditions of supervised release that would apply to the defendant upon ...

This 77-page decision is an important ruling involving the interplay between (a) motions for a sentence reduction in certain drug cases pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), and (b) Guideline Amendment 782, which became effective on November 1, 2014, but which, pursuant to a “Special Instruction” of the Sentencing Commission, ...

In U.S. v. Davis, 754 F.3d 1205 (11th Cir. June 11, 2014) (P&J, 06/23/14) (“Davis I”), we noted that the Eleventh Circuit had become the first Circuit Court to hold that cell phone location data was constitutionally protected; and that law enforcement agents cannot force mobile carriers to turn over ...

Here the court held that a defendant has a near absolute right to discharge his retained counsel for any reason “unless a contrary result is compelled by ‘purposes inherent in the fair, efficient and orderly administration of justice’”.

This is an interesting decision that affirms two important principles about a ...

Over the years, we have periodically reported on the long, drawn-out, David-versus-Goliath battle of Rahinah Ibrahim against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as she sought to remove herself from the Government’s secret terrorist watchlist, commonly known as its “No-Fly List.” (See, for example, Ibrahim v. Dept. of Homeland ...