Once again, District Judge Jack Weinstein of the E.D.N.Y. has added to his huge legacy of memorable and prophetic sentencing decisions - this time with a brilliant treatise on, and a telling indictment of, the current Federal Supervised Release program. In part, this treatise constitutes a comprehensive analysis of - ...

One of the several issues addressed in this case was the criteria for presenting a “necessity” defense in a trial for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).

Here, the defendant, Travis Barnes, was convicted by a jury for that crime and ...

In Peruta v. County of San Diego, 742 F.3d 1144 (9th Cir. Fed. 13, 2014) (“Peruta I”)(P&J, 03-10-14), Judge O’Scannlain wrote the majority opinion for a sharply divided panel in which struck down a San Diego county concealed carry policy that required gun owners to get a license to carry ...

Here the Court held that it was both procedural error and plain error for the judge to "surprise" the defendant and impose a huge upward variance based on a brief news article that had appeared online, without giving the defendant any advance notice.

This drug sentencing case is noted for ...

Here a divided panel affirmed extremely light sentences imposed on two former prison officials over a strong and thoughtful dissent by Judge Bacharach, who argued that the sentences were substantively unreasonable for numerous reasons.

This is the second appeal arising from crimes committed by former two corrections officers, Raymond Barnes ...

Here Judge Chutkan a 2013 amendment to the PROTECT ACT, namely 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c), was unconstitutional under the Foreign Commerce Clause as applied to Defendants who temporarily or permanently reside abroad.

This is a rare decision in which a Federal Court actually held that a Federal statute (here 18 ...