Appeals

Two guys go walking down the sidewalk of a Richmond, Va. housing complex. Cops see them, recognize them, and accuse them of trespassing based partly upon a trespassing arrest from eight years ago. Cops ask the guys to lift their shirts. One does, one kind of does. The kind-of one is also wearing skinny jeans, and there was a sketchy tip based on vague descriptions he sold drugs. Officers threaten him with trespassing charges and then detain and pat him down, finding a gun. Permissible Terry stop? District court: Totally permissible. Imposes 10 years imprisonment.

In his 2023 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. focused on the new technology while steering clear of Supreme Court ethics.

Detroit man spends more than 20 years in prison for a 12-year-old girl's murder—a crime he did not commit. Indeed, another man's fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and the defendant's confession (which got the cause of death wrong) followed a detective's telling him he could go home after signing it. Once he's released, he sues the city and involved officials who, as you might expect, assert qualified immunity.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that anyone under the age of 21 cannot be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, finding such a sentence constitutes “cruel or unusual punishment” under the Massachusetts Constitution. (view full article).

The Justice Department on Friday said in court papers that it would seek to execute the gunman who killed 10 Black people in a racist massacre at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022. It is the first time that President Biden’s administration has sought the death penalty in a new case (view full article).

The Supreme Court of the United States is hiring a deputy clerk for administration. Applicants must have a law degree and be admitted to the bar of a state’s highest court. More information about the position and the hiring process.

Eight years after the Supreme Court blocked his execution so that it could consider a challenge to Oklahoma’s lethal-injection protocol, the justices agreed on Monday to take up the case of Richard Glossip, who is seeking to set aside his conviction and death sentence (view full article).

On Wednesday, President Biden's nominations of Magistrate Judge Jacquelyn D. Austin to the District of South Carolina and Judge Cristal C. Brisco to the Northern District of Indiana were confirmed (view full article).

Judge Austin has been on the magistrate bench for the District of South Carolina since 2011.  She will be the third Black woman to serve as a lifetime judge on the District of South Carolina and the only Black woman who will be currently serving.

The White House called Alabama’s use of nitrogen hypoxia to execute a prisoner Thursday night “troubling,” noting that President Biden has long had “deep concerns” with how the death penalty is implemented (view full article).

Man is convicted of sex crimes in Indian country against an Indian victim under statute that applies if either the perpetrator or victim is an Indian—but does not apply if both are. Man: The feds didn't show I am not an Indian. Feds: That's your fault for not objecting to the jury instructions. Tenth Circuit: That's your fault for not proving an essential element of the crime. Convictions reversed.

The case is United States v. Simpkins, No. 22-7048 (10th Cir. Jan. 24, 2024).