(Cross-posted from the C.D. Cal. Federal Public Defender blog.)
In This Edition (to use bookmarks, first click blog post title):
News to Use
Top of the Ninth
SCOTUS Focus
Short Circuits
The Week in Sausage Making
For the Bookworms
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Law on the Brain. Neuroscientist David Eagleman "describes how the foundations of our criminal-justice system are beginning to crumble" in light of advances in brain science, and "proposes a new way forward for law and order," in the Atlantic.
But What's Causing the Increase in Probable Cause? Law.com reports that state and federal applications for wiretaps are up 34 percent. (Which is really weird when you consider all the other tools available.)
Judge Not. District Judge Jeremy Fogel, who halted executions in California five years ago in the ongoing Morales litigation, has been named Director of the Federal Judicial Center. It's unclear whether he'll be keeping the case.
"Illinois' Death Row Officially Shuts Down." Story from the AP at Forbes.com.
Immigration Detention for Fun and Profit. La Opinion has a story (trans.) on the "thriving business" enjoyed by private providers of immigration detention services for the federal government here in the U.S., and the concomitant increase in detention rates.
Crime after Crime. That new documentary recounts the case of Deborah Peagler, who was sentenced to 25-to-life for her involvement in the 1982 murder of her abusive boyfriend.
Top of the Ninth - 9th Cir. decisions released during the week.
· U.S. v. Evanston (federal rules do not permit asking deliberating jurors to define issues of concern and then allowing reargument on those issues). UPDATE (7.11.11): Ninth Circuit Blog analysis here.
· U.S. v. Rahman (general waiver of appeal in plea agreement encompasses appeal of denial of motion to withdraw from it).
· Hurles v. Ryan (habeas) (reversing denial of § 2254, where state trial judge became active party to interlocutory appeal challenging her decision to deny appointment of co-counsel in petitioner's case before presiding over his capital trial and determining his death sentence).
· Hernandez-Cruz v. Holder Jr. (immigration) (BIA's holding, that defendant's convictions for California PC § 459 second-degree commercial burglary were generic attempted theft offenses, was error; simply entering commercial building is not in itself "substantial step" supporting attempted theft liability).
· U.S. v. Gonzalez-Melchor (appeal waiver in exchange for judge's promise of reduced sentence is invalid).
· U.S. v. Loughner (order staying involuntary medication pending appeal).
SCOTUS Focus.
· Leal v. Texas (per curiam) (denying stay of execution as foreclosed by Medellin v. Texas, giving little weight to foreign policy concerns asserted by administration).
Short Circuits, Solid States, and other persuasive authority.
· U.S. v. Molignaro (1st Cir.) (Tapia's prohibition on factoring rehabilitation goals into length of sentence extends to resentencing after violation of release conditions).
· U.S. v. Divens (4th Cir.) (splitting with other circuits - including the 9th - to hold that government did not have discretion to refuse third acceptance point under 3E1.1(b) merely because defendant declined to sign plea agreement waiving post conviction review).
· U.S. v. Wright (6th Cir.) (unpublished) (§3553(a) does not permit district court to speculate regarding potential crimes court has no factual basis for concluding were ever committed).
· U.S. v. Daniels (6th Cir.) (defendant's brother who rented hotel rooms for underage prostitutes who worked for defendant, and mother who occasionally chauffeured them, were not acting "in concert" with defendant to further §2252A(g)(2) child exploitation enterprise predicate offenses).
· Conner v. Hall (11th Cir.) (habeas) (vacating denial of petition bringing IAC and prosecutorial misconduct claims and challenging procedural default of mental retardation claim).
· U.S. v. Clemens (D.D.C.) (order granting partial third-party discovery of attorney work product in major league baseball doping case). Via the BLT.
· U.S. v. Demarcus Fuentes (D.Or.) (tribal officers' crossing grass away from porch to peer through residential window to see if defendant was inside was unreasonable invasion of curtilage) (subsequent protective sweep was also unreasonable).
· U.S. v. Coiscou (S.D.N.Y.) (USMJ concludes he has authority to dismiss complaint for lack of probable cause after having issued it).
The Week in Sausage Making. Measures introduced include H.R. 2431 (to prohibit possession, transfer, or use of fraudulent travel documents).
For the Bookworms - New books and scholarly articles of note.
· "The Bilateral Fourth Amendment," L. Rush Atkinson, Georgetown L.J. (forthcoming) (SSRN) (argues that the Fourth Amendment by design regulates innocent behavior, and that "reasonableness" doctrine therefore needs to be modified to account for the value of innocent activity curbed by evidentiary rules).
· "Cruel and Unusual Federal Punishments," Michael Mannheimer, working paper (2011) (SSRN) (argues that the standard for whether a federal punishment is "cruel and unusual" ought to be far more stringent than that used in reviewing state punishments, and that the question can be answered only in reference to the punishment meted out by the state in which the criminal conduct occurred).
· "The Impact of Information on Death Penalty Support, Revisited," Eric G. Lambert et al., 57-4 Crime & Delinquency 572 (2011) (abstract) (results of study suggest information on deterrence and innocence leads to reduction in death penalty support).
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Suggestions or corrections? Email Michael_Drake@fd.org.
