ABA Journal

Sentencing/Post Conviction

4321 ABA Journal Sentencing/Post Conviction articles.

Is qualified immunity based on scrivener’s error? Law review article makes case

Scholars and courts have overlooked what could be a scrivener’s error that changes the text of the law that permits lawsuits against state and local government officials for constitutional violations, according to a February law review article.

Oregon’s former top administrative judge gets prison time in child pornography case

Oregon’s former top administrative law judge has been sentenced to 38 months in prison after his guilty plea to 10 counts of encouraging child sexual abuse.

Judge Andrew Erwin of…

Wins for 2 corruption defendants show Supreme Court’s distaste for broad interpretations of fraud laws

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday overturned two public corruption convictions.

2 ‘Varsity Blues’ convictions overturned, partly based on faulty honest-services fraud theory

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Boston on Wednesday overturned mail and wire fraud convictions of two fathers accused of paying bribes to gain admission to top colleges for their children.

Supreme Court stays execution of inmate who won support from Oklahoma AG

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday stayed the execution of an Oklahoma inmate after the state attorney general said he supported vacating the conviction.

White House unveils plan to bolster rehabilitation as Biden commutes sentences of 31 people

The White House hopes to promote rehabilitation of incarcerated people and their reentry into society with a strategic plan released April 28.

Walking into open garage to steal leaf blower doesn’t constitute burglary, Ohio Supreme Court says

A man who walked into a homeowner’s open garage and stole his leaf blower didn’t commit burglary because he didn’t use “force, stealth or deception” to gain entrance, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled.

Top South Carolina court vacates ‘phantom order’ granting early release of convicted murderer

The South Carolina Supreme Court acted “in rare haste” when it vacated a judge’s secret order for the release of a convicted murderer 16 years before the end of his sentence, according to a published report.

Weekly Briefs: ‘State takeover’ of city policing challenged; lawyers sentenced in trip-and-fall scheme

NAACP sues over ‘state takeover’ of city policing, courts

The NAACP has filed a lawsuit challenging two state laws that “represent a state takeover of Jackson,” Mississippi, a predominantly Black…

Former prosecutor gets prison time for stalking by subpoena

A former homicide prosecutor in Baltimore has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for using subpoenas to obtain confidential phone records that provided personal information about two former girlfriends.

Texas death row inmate can pursue challenge to DNA testing procedure, Supreme Court rules

A Texas death row inmate didn’t wait too long to challenge the state law governing postconviction DNA testing, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-3 decision.

Will former top administrative judge be third Oregon attorney to receive probation in a child porn case?

A May 11 sentencing date has been set for Oregon’s former top administrative law judge after his guilty plea to encouraging child sexual abuse in a child pornography case.

Removing unvaccinated potential jurors didn’t violate defendants’ Sixth Amendment rights, 4th Circuit rules

A federal judge’s decision to remove unvaccinated potential jurors did not violate two defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to have their cases heard by a fair cross section of the community, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Murder conviction of Adnan Syed of ‘Serial’ podcast fame is reinstated because of notice issue

Adnan Syed's February 2000 conviction for the murder of his ex-girlfriend has been reinstated because the victim's brother got insufficient notice of a hearing last year in which a judge vacated the conviction.

Prosecution of environmental lawyer Steven Donziger broke ‘basic constitutional promise,’ 2 SCOTUS justices say

Two conservative justices are raising concerns about judge-appointed prosecutors in a dissent from the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case of disbarred environmental lawyer Steven Donziger.

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