News

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has appointed Mary E. Maguire as the next Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Virginia (…

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have advanced spending bills that would cut millions of dollars from the budget of Defender Services, which represents poor defendants accused of federal offenses (…

Kannapolis, N.C. police officer Jeremy Page catches drug dealer/informant selling crack but says he won't arrest drug dealer if he hands over any other drugs he has and does more to help the police. He agrees, hands over more drugs, and helps police find a fugitive. Officer then decides that's…

Remember that "it depends" about prosecutors not turning over potentially exculpatory evidence from the Fourth Circuit? Well, that also applies for evidence useful for impeaching government witnesses. And for this defendant in the…

If prosecutors don't turn over potentially exculpatory evidence and a person on death row finds out about it (by accident) years later, does that mean he gets a new trial? Well, explains the…

Federal public defenders system could need to cut as many as 500 from its staff charged with protecting the rights of poor criminal defendants, because of a budgeting error by Congress that could leave it with a 3% to 5% shortfall, officials said (…

As record-breaking heat broils Dallas-Fort Worth, people incarcerated in federal prisons in North Texas face potentially deadly conditions due to inadequate air conditioning, according to an advocate and family members (article available…

Connecticut prisoner has an "intolerable" scalp condition consisting of painful scabs and oozing sores. Prison officials allegedly deny treatment for years. District court: there are no binding cases holding that a scalp condition is a serious medical need requiring treatment. Second Circuit:…

An Oklahoma appeals court on Thursday threw out a first-degree murder conviction because of a sexual relationship between the judge and a prosecutor in the case (article available…

U.S. Circuit Judge Albert Diaz has been named the next chief judge of the Fourth Circuit and is the first Hispanic jurist to helm the federal appellate court, replacing outgoing Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory (article available…