Here the First Circuit became the only Circuit to hold that the filing and notice requirements of 21 USC § 851(a)(1) (to establish prior convictions for sentence enhancement purposes) are not jurisdictional in nature.

In this case the Court held that the requirements of 21 U.S.C. § 851(a)(1) - that ...

In this case the defendant was sentenced to 121 months in prison for his participation in a drug conspiracy. As part of his sentence he was ordered to refrain from associating with gang members. He objected to that special condition of supervised release as "overly broad" and expressed concern that ...

Here the Court expounded upon the two criteria for a "class of one" equal protection claim, where the plaintiff alleges (a) intentional different treatment from others in the class, and (b) that there is no rational basis for such different treatment.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides ...

Here the Tenth Circuit vacated sentence because the district court had failed to give the defendant advance notice of a sua sponte imposition of a special condition of supervised relief requiring him to register as a sex offender.

In this case the defendant pled guilty to one count of possession ...

In this case, a prisoner's § 1983 complaint was sua sponte dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. The prisoner was not afforded notice or an opportunity to be heard. (Id., at 109). The Court concluded, "the district court's sole basis for concluding that administrative remedies were ...

Supreme Court vacated a decision by the Ninth Circuit which granted relief to a defendant whose counsel failed to file a notice of appeal based on its precedent that counsel's failure to file the notice is deficient unless defendant consents.

This is one of those disturbing Supreme Court decisions which ...

The defendants in this case were charged with various crimes arising out of the alleged curruption of the process by which a local county selected an underwriter for refunding municipal water and sewer bonds. The district court dismissed the charge of wire fraud based on a scheme or artifice to ...

In this case, police officers stopped the defendant Dortch for a traffic violation. They called a dispatcher to run a computer check for warrants and to determine whether the car was stolen. The officers also called for a canine unit to be sent to the scene. At the time the ...

In this case the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision not to apply the "jointly undertaken criminal activity" provisions of USSG § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B) to three drug mules who were caught together transporting drugs to the U.S.

In this case three Mexican drug mules were caught in Arizona by the ...

The defendant in this case was the owner and chief executive officer of a hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility. He was indicted in a 92 count indictment charging his with various violations of the Clean Water Act (18 U.S.C. § 1317(d)) by negligently discharging, or causing to be ...

In this case, the district court judge asked the defendant and his attorney to describe the defendant's current physical limitations. The defendant complained of a skin condition, lack of energy, and confusion, while his attorney focused on his reduced life expectancy. The district court then decided that Owusu did not ...

Judge Kent from Texas rejected a portion of attorney's request for compensation under the Criminal Justice Act after concluding that the CJA does not permit compensation of attorneys for time and expenses spent visiting their clients in jail.

Long ago the Supreme Court announced the self-evident rule that "[t]here can ...

Here the Ninth Circuit (in an en banc decision) reversed a panel’s previous decision to grant injunctive relief to a group of plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Border Patrol on the basis of alleged racial profiling.

We first discussed this case in the 3/1/99 issue of ...

The defendant in this case was charged with and convicted of criminal conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud arising out of his alleged attestation to a forged signature on a fake will. Prior to trial, the Government gave notice that it intended introduce some “prior bad acts” evidence ...

For some time now, the Courts of Appeal have been divided on the issue of whether a defendant who serves too much time in prison is entitled to any credit against his term of supervised release based on the excess prison time. Not surprisingly, the Court unanimously held that the ...