Case rejected the more general rule that when a jury returns a general verdict to a conspiratorial agreement covering multiple drugs, the defendants must be sentenced as if the conspirators distributed only the drug carring the lower penalty.

This is an important case that deals with the type of drugs ...

Court granted a motion to dismiss an indictment on the grounds that the alleged jurisdictional basis for the indictment was the intrastate use of a beeper.

With obvious concern about the explosive expansion of Federal power, Judge Scheindlin dismissed an indictment in this case for lack of Federal jurisdiction because ...

Over the strong dissent of Judge Becker, the majority found that the defendant had made an "express threat of death" for purposes if § 2B3.1(b)(2)(F) by telling a bank teller "I have a gun; give me all the money".

Case held that prisoners who work for the Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (UNICOR) are not employees within the meaning of various Federal statutes.

This case is another example of the hypocrisy of governmental power. Here, the petitioner, a federal inmate at El Reno, Oklahoma, who worked for that monolithic organization ...

Court granted motion to suppress in grounds that a roving police patrol had no legal right to stop and search taxis on the basis of an articulated purpose of random safety checks.

The defendant in this case was a passenger in a livery cab that was stopped by a roving ...

Court held that ordering closure of courtroom without considering alternatives violated the petitioner's right to a public trial.

The reigning hot topic in the Second Circuit these days seems to be finding esoteric ways to protect a defendant's right to a public trial - especially when the State conducts the ...

The issue raised in this case was whether Congress had exceeded its powers under the Commerce Clause in enacting 18 U.S.C. § 922(o), which criminalizes even the wholly intrastate possession of a machinegun. The en banc court divided evenly on the issue, so the lower court's determination that the conviction ...

More than anything else, this case shows some of the traps of plea bargains. Here, he defendant was charged with a conspiracy to engage in money laundering under the general conspiracy statute (18 U.S.C. § 371) [which carries a maximum sentence of five years], but "for reasons known only to ...

Relying on the defendant's compliance with the IRS's Voluntary Disclosure Policy before any criminal investigation was begun, the Court granted motion to dismiss indictment for failure to file income tax returns.

Case cites at length various provisions of the Voluntary Disclosure Policy which is contained in the Internal Revnue Manual ...

Case held that rule established in Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 146 (1990) was a new rule of law that did not apply retroactively and thus it affirmed a conviction where the police had resumed interrogation after defendant requsted counsel.

Court noted that Minnick established the principle that a custodial ...

This is an important case that deals with the type of drugs for which a defendant may be sentenced after a jury returns a general verdict of guilty. It is particularly important because until now the general rule in the Circuits has been that when a jury returns a general ...

Recently, the Third Circuit, case considered, but refused to recognize, any parent-child privilege that
would prevent one family member from testifying against another in Federal criminal proceedings.
(See, In Re Grand Jury, 103 F.3d 1140 (3rd Cir. 1997)). In this scholarly treatise, Judge Whaley
examined the same question in far ...

United States v. Goldberg, 105 F.3d 770 (1st Cir. 1997) (Judge Boudin)
United States v. Carrozzella, 105 F.3d 796 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Winter)

Both the Goldberg case from the First Circuit and the Coscarelli case from the Sixth Circuit are good examples of why, and how, the Government so ...

Reversing the district court's ruling, the 6th Circuit held that assistance that a municipal judge provided to parties related to judge's general duty to receive charging documents and qualified as judicial acts for immunity purpposes.

Here the gravemen of the plaintiff's claim was that the judge acted as a prosecutor ...

Case held that a failure to comply with the notice requirements specified in U.S. v. James Daniel Good, 510 U.S. 43 (1993) did not immunize the property from forfeiture.

In this case the Court addressed the Circuit split that exists regarding the appropriate remedy in civil forfeiture cases where the ...

Case held that the Government was prejudiced by not receiving advance notice of downward departure on grounds not identified in presentence report, and that a sentence of probation based on aberrant conduct was an illegal sentence.

Justice Brennan's famous quote about the plight of prisoners who are banished to a separate and forgotten Netherworld.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - Prisoners - Members of a separate and forgotten Netherworld.

"Prisoners are persons whom most of us would rather not think about. Banished from everyday sight, they exist ...

This case is noted because it shows why the Government so frequently charges tax offenders under the general conspiracy laws, rather than under the tax laws that more accurately describe and define the underlying tax crime.

This case shows why the Government so frequently charges tax offenders under the general ...

This decision contains a detailed analysis of the meaning of "violation of any judicial process" as used in § 2F1.1(b)(4)(B) - formerlly codified at § 2F1.1(b)(3)(B) - of the Guidelines. Here, the lower court first imposed a two-level sentence enhancement under § 2F1.1(b)(4)(B) - formerlly codified at § 2F1.1(b)(3)(B) - ...

One of the issues raised in this case was the contested admission, pursuant to Rule 801(d)(2)(E), of
two out-of-court conversations as statements made “by a co-conspirator of a party during the course
and in furtherance of the conspiracy.” The defendant argued that such statements were inadmissible
hearsay evidence because they ...

In this case, Judge Whaley has taken a fresh look at the need for a parent-child privilege in Federal criminal proceedings, and has written a cogent exegesis in support of at least some recognition of that privilege.

Recently, the Third Circuit, case considered, but refused to recognize, any parent-child privilege ...

This decision contains a detailed analysis of two complex provisions of the Sentencing Guidelines: the meaning of "violation of any judicial process" as used in § 2F1.1(b)(4)(B) (formerly codified at § 2F1.1(b)(3)(B)), and the meaning of "otherwise extensive" criminal activity as used in § 3B1.1(a). In both cases, the decision ...

Acting under his authority as Chief Judge, Judge Martin has issued an important Administrative Order to assure uniformity throughout the Sixth Circuit in the implementation of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. While the Order covers some 15 different procedural matters, the preface to the Order is particularly noteworthy. There Judge ...

This case presents an interesting defense to a charge of being in the United States without the permission of the Attorney General, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a) and (b)(1). Here, in 1985, the defendant was deported because of a conviction for mail fraud. More than five years ...

In 1988, one of the defendants in this case pled guilty to a money structuring charge in exchange for which the Government agreed to drop a number of other counts. He was sentenced to three years probation. In 1994, after the Supreme Court ruled, in Ratzlaf v. U.S., 126 L.Ed.2d ...