Punch and Jurists: July 30, 2001

Volume 8, Number 31

In this issue:

U.S. v. Maxwell, No. 00-2084 (1st Cir.) (254 F.3d 21) (June 29, 2001) (Judge Bruce M. Selya) (p None)
U.S. v. Rodriguez-Montelongo, No. 00-51023 (5th Cir.) (263 F.3d 429) (August 23, 2001) (Judge Richard A. Schell) (p None)
U.S. v. Villarreal, No. 99-41095 (5th Cir.) (253 F.3d 831) (June 11, 2001) (Judge Reynaldo G. Garza) (p None)
U.S. v. Robinson, No. 00-1643 (8th Cir.) (253 F.3d 1065) (June 7, 2001) (Judge David R. Hansen) (p None)
U.S. v. Gallardo-Marquez, No. 01-1022 (8th Cir.) (253 F.3d 1121) (June 18, 2001) (Judge Paul A. Magnuson) (p None)
U.S. v. Disney, No. 00-2195 (10th Cir.) (253 F.3d 1211) (June 19, 2001) (Judge Michael R. Murphy) (p None)
U.S. v. Burgos, No. 00-1163 (1st Cir.) (254 F.3d 8) (June 22, 2001) (Judge Kermit A. Lipez) (p None)
U.S. v. Godwin, No. 00-4253 (4th Cir.) (253 F.3d 784) (June 14, 2001) (Judge William B. Jr. Traxler) (p None)
Sampson v. Schenectady, No. 99-CV-1331 (N.D.N.Y.) (160 F.Supp.2d 336) (August 16, 2001) (Judge Lawrence E. Kahn) (p None)
U.S. v. Hitchcock, No. 00-10251 (9th Cir.) (263 F.3d 878) (August 23, 2001) (Judge Betty Binns Fletcher) (p None)
U.S. v. Maxwell, No. 00-2084 (1st Cir.) (254 F.3d 21) (June 29, 2001) (Judge Bruce M. Selya) (p None)

U.S. v. Maxwell, No. 00-2084 (1st Cir.) (254 F.3d 21) (June 29, 2001) (Judge Bruce M. Selya)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists.

This decision deals with the ongoing protests in Puerto Rico over the Navy’s use of a military installation on the island of Vieques as a site for live-fire artillery and bombing exercises. What makes the decision both novel and interesting is its discussion of two affirmative defenses that the defendant ...

U.S. v. Rodriguez-Montelongo, No. 00-51023 (5th Cir.) (263 F.3d 429) (August 23, 2001) (Judge Richard A. Schell)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Cultural Assimilation.

This decision marks the second time that an appellate court has approved - at least in principle - the concept that a district court may grant a sentencing departure based on a person’s “cultural assimilation” - but we still don’t really know what that means. Taken by themselves, the words ...

U.S. v. Villarreal, No. 99-41095 (5th Cir.) (253 F.3d 831) (June 11, 2001) (Judge Reynaldo G. Garza)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists.

U.S. v. Robinson, No. 00-1643 (8th Cir.) (253 F.3d 1065) (June 7, 2001) (Judge David R. Hansen)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists.

U.S. v. Gallardo-Marquez, No. 01-1022 (8th Cir.) (253 F.3d 1121) (June 18, 2001) (Judge Paul A. Magnuson)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists.

U.S. v. Disney, No. 00-2195 (10th Cir.) (253 F.3d 1211) (June 19, 2001) (Judge Michael R. Murphy)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Sufficiency of Evidence.

U.S. v. Burgos, No. 00-1163 (1st Cir.) (254 F.3d 8) (June 22, 2001) (Judge Kermit A. Lipez)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Drug Quantity.

The defendant in this case argued that the district court had erred in sentencing him to 108 months in prison in the absence of a jury finding as to the quantity of cocaine he attempted to possess. Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. ...

U.S. v. Godwin, No. 00-4253 (4th Cir.) (253 F.3d 784) (June 14, 2001) (Judge William B. Jr. Traxler)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists.

If a person is convicted for being an accessory-after-the-fact, he is sentenced under the provisions of U.S.S.G. § 2X3.1, which provides that his base offense level shall be “6 levels lower than the offense level for the underlying offense, but in no event less than 4, or more than 30.“ ...

Sampson v. Schenectady, No. 99-CV-1331 (N.D.N.Y.) (160 F.Supp.2d 336) (August 16, 2001) (Judge Lawrence E. Kahn)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.

In this case, Judge Kahn held that police officers who violate a person’s civil rights are not immune from damages and are not entitled to assert a defense of qualified immunity in a lawsuit charging them with civil rights violations - even if the policemen claim that they were following ...

U.S. v. Hitchcock, No. 00-10251 (9th Cir.) (263 F.3d 878) (August 23, 2001) (Judge Betty Binns Fletcher)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Constitutional Challenges.

On August 9, 2001, a panel from the Ninth Circuit issued a far reaching decision, when it held, in U.S. v. Buckland, 2001 WL 893440 (9th Cir. 8/9/01) (See, P&J, 7/16/01), that two of the main provisions of the Federal drug laws, 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) and (B) Ninth Circuit’s ...

U.S. v. Maxwell, No. 00-2084 (1st Cir.) (254 F.3d 21) (June 29, 2001) (Judge Bruce M. Selya)

Loaded on July 1, 2001 published in Punch and Jurists July 30, 2001

Filed under: Punch And Jurists.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - “The Government is best which governs least.”

In the middle of the 19th Century, philosopher and author Henry David Thoreau wrote the model for social protest in his classic essay “Civil Disobedience” - a work that was originally titled “Resistence to Civil Government.” Starting with ...