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Supreme Court

Supreme Court to hear case on criminal penalties for homelessness

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Monday in a case that one legal expert has called the “most important Supreme Court case about homelessness in at least 40 years.” The issue before the court is the constitutionality of ordinances in an Oregon town that bar people who are homeless from using blankets, pillows, or cardboard boxes for protection from the elements while sleeping within the city limits. Defending the ordinances, the city contends that the laws simply … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Maker of CBD products asks court to decide whether lawsuit under criminal racketeering law can go forward

The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.

Organized crime, from the mafia to small-time money laundering schemes, often evades criminal prosecution. To bolster efforts to fight organized crime, Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, more than 50 years ago. In addition to the criminal penalties for violating RICO, the law also … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Funding for Native healthcare programs, and the Armed Career Criminal Act returns

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

Since our last installment, the Supreme Court has continued slowly chipping away at the still-sizable number of lingering relists from the end-of-summer “long conference.” The court denied review in five-time relist Johnson v. Prentice, involving an Illinois prisoner’s claim that his nearly three-year term of solitary confinement constituted cruel and unusual … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Using expert testimony to prove a criminal defendant’s knowledge of drug trafficking

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

A lot has happened since our last installment. The Supreme Court granted review of one-time relists Garland v. Cargill, involving whether bump stocks are “machineguns” and thus generally prohibited, and Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski, involving whether a court or an arbitrator should decide whether an arbitration agreement that generally delegates the … Read the rest

Civil Law

Third Circuit Affirms Law Student’s Cyberstalking Plea, Holding Federal Criminal Cyberstalking Statute Does Not Violate Constitution

This week the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal criminal law passed in 2013 regarding cyberstalking, holding that it passes constitutional muster. U.S. v. Yung, Case No. 19-1640 (3d Cir.). The case arose in the context of a criminal matter involving a student who was rejected from Georgetown University Law Center after interviewing with an alumni representative. The decision issued by a three-judge panel is precedential and will impact other federal cyber litigations. Read on to learn … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Beards and Brady (i.e., religious freedom and criminal procedure)

This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, whether Georgia corrections can prevent a Muslim prisoner from growing an untrimmed beard in accordance with his religious beliefs, and whether defendants can only bring Brady claims for the prosecution’s failure to disclose exculpatory evidence if they meet a due diligence requirement.

Muslim prisoner argues that Georgia corrections’ limit on beard lengths violates his religious exercise

In Smith v. Ward, Lester Smith … Read the rest

Supreme Court

International issues in criminal law: Extradition of El Chapo and extraterritoriality in Nigeria

This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, whether defendants have standing to assert violations of an extradition treaty and whether the wire fraud statute applies extraterritorially to reach a defendant’s conduct committed only in Nigeria.

El Chapo seeks standing to argue that his trial violated the extradition treaty with Mexico

Guzman Loera v. United States is a petition brought by Joaquin Guzman Loera, better known as El Chapo, the former … Read the rest

Civil Law

Executives Beware: DOJ Antitrust Division is Taking a Hard Look at a Wide Spectrum of Potential Criminal Violations

On March 2, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers laid out a significant and aggressive criminal enforcement agenda for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. While speaking at the the ABA National Institute on White Collar Crime in San Francisco, CA, Powers began his remarks by noting that the Division’s Criminal Section currently had 18 indicted cases against 10 companies and 42 individuals, including 8 CEOs or Presidents. DAAG Powers also noted that the Section had 146 open … Read the rest