It seems like every time I go online I see the omnipresent Casey Anthony. Her pictures always elicit the same taste as her media coverage—it’s like regurgitating curdled yogurt. So, with bile and awe, I’ve recently read how several states and even the federal government are considering new laws in her honor, [...]
The Third Circuit took the unusual step of declaring a Supreme Court opinion (Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S.Ct. 1473 (2010)) retroactively applicable to defedants filing habeas corpus motions. The case is United States v. Orocio and the opinion can be found here. For those who do not regularly follow post-conviction and habeas [...]
The USA Today and a host of other media outlets report that Representatives Ron Paul and Barney Frank introduced a bill to legalize marijuana. According to Politico, the bill was: Modeled on the 21st Amendment to the Constitution that repealed the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, the legislation is being cast by the Marijuana Policy Project [...]
On April 6, 2011, the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued a press release stating that the Commission amended the Sentencing Guidelines to account for the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. The changes will be permanent and will result in lower sentences for those facing mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine offenses. Commission chair, [...]
On next Tuesday, March 22nd, I will be speaking at the University of Virginia Law School. The gathering will occur at 12:30, and the UVA Innocence Clinic will be providing lunch. Special thanks to Allison Harnack for putting the event together. The blurb is below. The University of Virginia Innocence Project Presents [...]
On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear argument in DePierre v. United States, 09-1533, and decide a long-running dispute on what Congress meant by the term “cocaine base” for purposes of imposing mandatory minimum sentences under the federal narcotics statute. In 1985, Maryland basketball star Len Bias died of a cocaine drug overdose [...]
Last week a number of distinguished organizations released a new report meant to urge Congress and the President into making substantive changes to the way this country deals with crime. In my last post, I pointed out the strengths of the report. In this post, I want to discuss a few items that [...]
Last night, I read through most of the report entitled, Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress. The goal of the report is to provide “analysis of the problems plaguing our state and federal criminal justice systems and a series of recommendations to address these failures.” For the most part, [...]