Punch and Jurists

U.S. v. Leal-Felix, No. 09-50426 (9th Cir.) (665 F.3d 1037) (November 30, 2011) (Judge N. Randy Smith) by Here the en banc court, by a 10-1 vote, reversed an earlier, highly-contentious decision by a divided panel and held that a traffic stop is not a formal “arrest” for purposes of …

U.S. v. Johnson, No. 09-31106 (5th Cir.) (648 F.3d 273) (July 28, 2011) (Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham) by Here a divided panel held that a district court’s consideration at a sentencing hearing of the defendant’s five prior arrests violated due process since such arrests, standing alone, do not constitute reliable …