United States v. Angle, 254 F.3d 514 (4th Cir. 2001) (En banc) (Judge Wilkins)
United States v. Promise, 255 F.3d 150 (4th Cir. 2001) (En banc) (Judge Wilkins)

In October, 2000, the Fourth Circuit produced one of the first detailed decisions interpreting Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). ...

Here the Court held that a sentence of supervised release in excess of the statutory maximum based on a determination of the quantity of drugs by a preponderance of the evidence was an Apprendi error that required vacating the entire sentence.

[After the defendant filed a petition for a rehearing ...

United States v. Angle, 254 F.3d 514 (4th Cir. 2001) (En banc) (Judge Wilkins)
United States v. Promise, 255 F.3d 150 (4th Cir. 2001) (En banc) (Judge Wilkins)

In October, 2000, the Fourth Circuit produced one of the first detailed decisions interpreting Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). ...

Here a divided Court held that a proision of the IIRIRA that authorizes the post-removal-period detention of removed aliens must be construed to contain an "implicit 'reasonable time' limitation" to avoid serious constitutional concerns.

In this case, a philosophically divided Supreme Court again placed sharp limits on the Government’s ability ...

This case is one of the few that we have seen to interpret the scope of the so-called “savings clause” of 28 U.S.C. § 2255. While § 2255 is the primary avenue for habeas relief by Federal prisoners protesting the legality of their sentences, Federal prisoners are also given a ...

Under U.S.S.G. § 5K2.11 (a “Policy Statement” that is entitled “Lesser Harms”), a sentencing court is permitted to depart downward from the otherwise applicable sentencing range under two separate and distinct circumstances: (a) when a defendant commits a crime “in order to avoid a perceived greater harm”; and (b) when ...

Here the Court held that its ruling in Cage v. Louisiana, 489 U.S. 39 (1990), dealing with erroneous jury instructions, had not been "made retroactive" within the meaning of 1996 amendments to the habeas statutes and could not be raised on a second appeal.

In 1996, as part of the ...

In 1994, Congress directed the Sentencing Commission to “promulgate guidelines or amend existing guidelines to provide that a defendant 21 years of age or older who has been convicted of an offense shall receive an appropriate sentence enhancement if the defendant involved a minor in the commission of the offense.” ...

Among the many issues raised in this appeal was a contention by the defendant, George Wilson, that his sentence was in violation of the Court's ruling in Apprendi v. New Jersey, because the district court, relying on the presentence report, had applied a ten-level enhancement to Wilson's base level of ...