The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the DEA will cease its "cold consent encounters" at airports, during which agents demand to search people's bags while telling them things like, "I don't need your consent." The suspension coincides with an inspector general report condemning the practice (access full artic
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed MacArthur Justice Center Executive Director Amir Ali to the federal trial court in Washington, D.C. (access full article).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has appointed Richard McWilliams as the next Federal Public Defender for the District of Nebraska.
The Commission released its Preliminary FY24 Fourth Quarterly Sentencing Update.
In FY24, 61,137 individuals were sentenced federally—representing a decrease from the previous fiscal year. Nearly equal proportions of individuals were sentenced for a drug (30.0%) or immigration (29.7%) offense.
Yesterday, the United States Sentencing Commission issued a press release announcing proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2025. Among the proposals are those that would:
President Joe Biden’s number of lifetime appointments to the federal bench surpassed the first Trump administration’s Friday and set records as the most diverse selection of judges by any president in U.S. history, according to federal judiciary observers (access full article).
Missouri carried out the first execution of an openly transgender woman in the history of the United States on Tuesday (access full article).
McLaughlin’s execution – the first in the US this year – is unusual: Executions of women in the United States are already rare. Prior to McLaughlin’s execution, just 17 had been put to death since 1976.
A Mississippi federal court declared opposition to federal sentencing guidelines for methamphetamine offenses, and sentenced an admitted drug offender lower than prescribed by the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s guidelines.
Citing DEA date, the court rejected the guidelines' reasoning that purer methamphetamine is indicative of a defendant’s role in criminal drug trafficking because it is not based on empirical data. This reasoning is “divorced from reality.”
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday decided - for now - not to weigh in on the legality of judges increasing prison sentences for criminal defendants based on charges for which they were acquitted - a practice that critics have said violates basic constitutional rights (article available here).
Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit reminded us once again that “extraordinary and compelling reasons” sufficient to justify compassionate release under the First Step Act are not limited to COVID-19 and medical issues. In United States v. Brown, No. 21-7752 (4th Cir. Aug. 16, 2023), a split panel of the Fourth Circuit reversed the denial of compassionate release based on stacked § 924(c) convictions and ordered a 20-year reduction in sentence.