Here the Court reversed a sentence based on Apprendi, holding that the limited physical evidence and minimal corroborating testimony available in this case warranted reversal under the “seriously affecting fairness” standard.

To date, the Seventh Circuit has published more decisions denying appellate relief based on Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 ...

This case presents another striking example of sentencing factor manipulation - this time involving the prosecution’s use of the mandatory minimum gun statutes as the means of escalating sentences that are already warped beyond all reason. Here, an undercover police officer made a $20 “confirmatory” drug purchase from the defendant ...

Throughout this opinion, Judge Gertner repeatedly expressed her concern that, because drug sentences are driven primarily by the type and quantity of drugs, “the potential exists for the government, not the court, to effectively dictate the defendant’s ultimate sentence.” (Id., at 88). She also commented: “In a sentencing regime that ...

This case is noted for its review of the current parameters of the marital testimony privilege. The spousal privilege was both deep-seated and virtually absolute under the common law, but (as this case shows) it is a privilege that has become increasingly eroded by courts.

In this case, the defendant ...

Here, adopting the position taken by the 2nd and 3rd Circuits, a divided Court held that the "otherwise extensive" enhancement under USSG § 3B1.1(a) should be defined primarily or solely by the number of persons involved in the activity.

The issue addressed in this case was what factors a court ...

In this case, one of the arguments made by the defendant was that the Government had failed to introduce any evidence at trial that the school near which he committed a drug offense was one of the specific types of schools enumerated in 21 U.S.C. § 860(a). That statute makes ...

In this case the defendant

Here the Court held that "The district court may determine at sentencing the quantity of drugs involved in the offense for purposes of applying § 841(b), even if the drug quantity was not charged in the indictment and found by the jury beyond a reasonable ...

The defendant in this case was convicted of illegal re-entry into the U.S. after a prior deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. Prior to the instant conviction he had previously been convicted in Georgia of the misdemeanor offense of theft by shoplifting. He was sentenced to 12 months ...

In this case the Ninth Circuit reversed a drug trafficking and gun conviction of an alien on the grounds that mere proximity to some duffle bags of marijuana was insufficient to support the convictions; and that the Government had failed to prove the crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. In his ...

The defendant in this case was convicted of illegal re-entry into the U.S. after a prior deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. At his sentencing, the district court concluded that the defendant’s criminal history score should be increased by one level due to a prior shoplifting conviction. The ...