Sentencing/Post Conviction

Hypnosis Hearing Stuns Petitioner

A federal judge has granted a hearing to determine if the children who agreed to testify in a high-profile sexual abuse case were influenced by hypnosis. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert of Central Islip, N.Y., issued the order in response to a habeas petition by Jesse Friedman, the New York…

Jul 24, 2007 3:31 PM CDT

Panel Would Address Prison Crowding

Two federal judges in California have ordered the creation of a three-judge court to consider reducing inmate populations at crowded state prisons. Judges Thelton Henderson of San Francisco and Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento issued the orders in response to suits claiming prisoner health care has suffered because of the crowded…

Jul 24, 2007 2:41 PM CDT

Alcatraz Visit: Feel Like a Prisoner

The atmosphere is dank, dreary and depressing. Nor are the stories told by those who spent time there accounts of happy times. Nonetheless, Alcatraz, the infamous prison on an island near San Francisco, is one of the biggest tourist draws in the country. Now newly renovated, the Rock–which last housed…

Jul 23, 2007 5:18 PM CDT

Conrad Black Remains Free

Media mogul Conrad Black will remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction for mail fraud and obstruction of justice. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve of Chicago permitted Black to remain in Illinois or Florida, but said he could not return to his native Canada, the New York…

Jul 20, 2007 3:34 PM CDT

‘Too Short’ for Jail Ruling to Be Appealed

There were valid reasons, an appeals court says, for a Nebraska judge’s perhaps-unprecedented decision to sentence a 52-year-old man who is slightly over five feet tall to probation in a child sexual assault case. So the controversial 10-year probation term she gave Richard W. Thompson, saying that he deserves prison…

Jul 19, 2007 12:57 AM CDT

Attorney-Client Privilege Bill Praised By ABA Prez

The president of the ABA is backing legislation that would bar prosecutors from pressuring companies to waive attorney-client privilege and cut off employees’ legal fees. U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., introduced the bill in the House last week, Corporate Counsel reports. It is co-sponsored by Randy Forbes, R-Va. The bill…

Jul 18, 2007 12:31 PM CDT

Girls in Jail Need Beauty, Kind Words

Throughout the country, prisons are run in a paramilitary manner that seems to work for men. But it’s not nearly as effective for young women, experts believe. So, as the number of girls in jail goes up, juvenile authorities in Illinois have been developing new kind of lock-up for young…

Jul 16, 2007 6:35 PM CDT

‘Look to Libby’ Plea Loses

A federal judge in San Francisco didn’t give much weight to a former lawyer’s bid for a reduced sentence that cited President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of an ex-aide. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White sentenced Troy Ellerman yesterday to 30 months in jail for leaking grand jury transcripts…

Jul 13, 2007 1:04 PM CDT

Paris Hilton Jail Perks Probe Launched

Did Paris Hilton get special treatment during her brief jail stay for violating probation on an alcohol related traffic offense? That is the question to be answered by a newly launched Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigation. The hotel heiress allegedly had her mail delivered by top brass at the…

Jul 13, 2007 3:45 AM CDT

Irked Judge Upholds Libby Commutation

In what a well-known U.S. Supreme Court blog describes as “a 10-page opinion bristling with actual and implied criticism” of President George W. Bush’s commutation of the 30-month prison term imposed on I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the federal judge who sentenced the former top vice presidential aide held today that…

Jul 13, 2007 2:57 AM CDT

21 Months for Hamas Lie

A federal judge has sentenced a suburban Chicago grocer to 21 months in prison for lying about his ties to Hamas. Muhammad Salah also received a $25,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and three years of probation, the New York Times reports. Salah had been acquitted of a more…

Jul 12, 2007 4:04 PM CDT

Defendants: No Jail for Libby; Why Me?

Updated: A former top aide to the vice president of the United States didn’t have to serve time for lying to a federal grand jury. So why should I? That essentially is the argument being made by a Massachusetts woman, 41-year-old Joanne “Jody” Richardson. And she’s not the only one.…

Jul 11, 2007 9:13 PM CDT

UK Bomb Plotters Sentenced

Four men convicted in an unsuccessful attempt to bomb the London mass transit system were sentenced today to life in prison. Judge Adrian Fulford said the attacks were part of an “al-Qaida-controlled sequence of events,” the Washington Post reports. The failed plot came just two weeks after four suicide bombers…

Jul 11, 2007 3:59 PM CDT

Celebrities Support Convicted Killer

The upcoming execution of a man who says he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer has drawn international attention. Courts have refused to allow death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis to present new evidence, even though seven of nine prosecution witnesses who implicated him have renounced much of their…

Jul 10, 2007 5:26 PM CDT

Libby Probation OK, Briefs Say

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby may be sentenced to two years of supervised release in spite of President Bush’s commutation of his prison sentence, prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed in court papers filed yesterday. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton of the District of Columbia had questioned whether Libby could receive probation…

Jul 10, 2007 2:41 PM CDT