QUOTE OF THE WEEK - Some observations on the consequences of treating factors that drastically affect a sentence as mere sentencing enhancements which need not be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

"It would demean the importance of the reasonable-doubt standard - indeed, it would demean the Constitution …

In this case, the trial judge charged the jury that murder under South Carolina law "is the unlawful killing of any human being with malice aforethought either express or implied." The judge continued:

"In order to convict one of murder, the State must not only prove the killing of the …

This case helps to put in perspective the impact of one commonly used sentencing enhancement. The case deals with a provision of the Guidelines (U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(c)(1)(A)), which permits a sentencing court to enhance a sentence "if the defendant used or possessed any firearm . . . in connection with …

The Court also held that BOP decisions to accelerate the defendant's payments of his fine and to count as available resources funds that the inmate received from outside sources were proper. Citing Johnpoll v. Thornburgh, 898 F.2d 849, 851 (2nd Cir. 1990), the Court wrote "the IFRP program serves valid …

In this case, the district court dismissed the petitioner's § 2255 motion on the grounds that it was not filed within one year from the date on which his conviction became "final." The defendant argued that he had a right to file an appeal with the Supreme Court, and that …

This revised decision, which was first discussed in the Jan. 11, 1999 issue of P&J, is noted because one of the issues addressed was whether it was proper to admit evidence to the jury that the defendant was on a work release program from prison at the time he committed …

In this case Judge Bucklo refused to apply a sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 even though the defendant lied both to the Court and to the Probation Office about whether he brought a BB gun unto a bank during an attempted robbery. Relying on U.S. …

In this case Judge Bucklo refused to apply a sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 even though the defendant lied both to the Court and to the Probation Office about whether he brought a BB gun unto a bank during an attempted robbery. Relying on U.S. …

The defendant pled guilty to transmitting child pornography by a computer in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a). He appealed his sentence contending that the district court should not have enhanced his sentence under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(2) for distribution of child pornography because his crime was not committed for "pecuniary …

This case involves an appeal by the Government from the sentences imposed on ten Mexican defendants after they were convicted of carrying backpacks of marijuana into the United States. The district court (Judge Hansen) sentenced each of the defendants to 12 months imprisonment, after granting significant downward departures which the …

In this case Judge Henderson held that California did not qualify for the "opt-in" requirements of Chapter 154 of the AEDPA permitting it to engage in expedited review of capital cases.

Here the Court held that the defendant was not prohibited from possessing firearms at the time those firearms were seized because his rights had been sufficiently restored within the meaning of 18 USC § 921(a)(20).

Claiming the majority's decision was contrary to the Court's en banc ruling in U.S. v. Annigoni, 96 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir. 1996), Judge Reinhardt wrote: "The majority acknowledges that the trial court's erroneous denial of half of Vansickel's statutorily authorized peremptory challenges -- ten out of twenty -- violated his …

In this case, the district judge told the defendant, who had executed a plea agreement containing a waiver of appeal provision, that it "invite[d] and welcome[d] an appeal." (Id., at 1168). In upholding the validity of the waiver-of-appeal privision, the Eleventh Circuit concluded that any modificatiuon of the plea agreement …

This case involves an appeal by the Government from the sentences imposed on ten Mexican defendants after they were convicted of carrying backpacks of marijuana into the United States. The district court (Judge Hansen) sentenced each of the defendants to 12 months imprisonment, after granting significant downward departures which the …