News

18 U.S.C. § 1519 prohibits only one act: that of falsifying a document. Today, in an unanimous opinion written by Justice Kagan, the Supreme Court held that “[t]he trial for falsifying a document must take place where the defendant falsified the document.”  …

In Whitton v. Dixon, No. 25-580 (June 1, 2026) (per curiam), the Supreme Court held that in federal habeas proceedings, a court cannot consider post-trial evidence that the jury never…

As the COVID-19 pandemic started to abate, the U.S. District Court for the Virgin Islands resumed in-person hearings, with some restrictions. In one such instance, drug traffickers who go by "Bogus" and "Crumbull" challenge their convictions, arguing that the exclusion of observers from the…

In an Idaho tax-fraud trial, just as the jury is on the cusp of a verdict, one juror informs the judge that another juror made a racist comment about people of Mexican ethnicity. Things like, "The Mexicans, all they want to do is screw us over anyway”; Defendant’s employer "could have come up…

The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island has selected Assistant Federal Defender Rebecca L. Aitchison to serve as a full-time U.S. Magistrate Judge, according to the…

Defendant in a North Dakota fraud trial wasn't permitted to introduce statements from a recording of the gov't preparing its star witness, a co-fraudster who received a sweetheart plea deal of pretrial diversion even though he was facing 60 years imprisonment. Defense: I'd like to show portions…

For some clever lawyering, check out this Eighth Circuit (2-1) decision. In 2024, the Supreme Court held in…

A federal judge in Tennessee cleared Kilmar Abrego Garcia of all criminal charges. His…

Long novels teach us patience: endure enough chapters and eventually the villains get their comeuppance. Civil rights cases are less reliable in this regard. Accountability often arrives late, diluted, or not at all. But the…

The circuit splitting continues. Sixth Circuit (2-1): Non-citizens in the country who were never lawfully admitted to the country are not subject to mandatory detention without bond pending their removal proceedings. The law “ensures that noncitizens like Petitioners…