News

A few fellas were drinkin' moonshine in a Tishomingo County, Miss. trailer when things get out of hand and one is arrested for shooting some bullets—which he denies. Due to a prior conviction he's held awaiting trial. That lasts 1,233 days, during which he's given four attorneys—some of whom he'…

The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.…

Sure, soliciting a minor for sex is criminal—but it does not, the Eighth Circuit holds, affect interstate commerce just because you made your gross solicitation while sitting in a car that was manufactured out of state. The…

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in two criminal cases this week:

Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel—Villarreal v. Texas, No. 24-577 (U.S. Apr. 7, 2025) (cert. granted) (Whether a trial court abridges the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to…

Today, the United States Supreme Court denied Ghislaine Maxwell’s petition for certiorari. Maxwell v. United States, No. 24-1073 (U.S. Oct. 6, 2025) (cert. denied). Maxwell presented this question for review: under Santobello v. New York and common principles of contract…

More American Indian legal drama out of Oklahoma! In a vehicular-manslaughter prosecution, gov't had to prove defendant was an Indian to have federal jurisdiction. Defendant testified he was a tribal citizen, and he had also asserted that in state court to get out of related civil lawsuit.…

Alabama man pleads guilty to a state Class D felony and receives a 24-month suspended sentence and is placed on probation for two years. Six months after completing his sentence, he's found with a gun. Oops. He is charged and convicted under the federal felon-in-possession statute.…

Pennsylvania man stole 69 guns from gun stores—but says the restitution order stole from him, charging double for the same guns. After winning an earlier Third Circuit challenge to a restitution award of approximately $70,000, he was then ordered to pay $57,000. Man: still too much. …

Police obtain a warrant to search the residence of a man in Lake Worth, Fla. who was suspected of committing drug and firearms offenses. They believe it's a single-family home, but when they get there turns out the man lives in one of a few efficiency apartments in the back. They enter and find…

In a letter from U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff to the U.S. Judicial Conference that was made public this week (available here), the Senator expressed concern that “several federal district courts fail to…