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).
Is it okay for a criminal-defense counsel to tell his (Black) client that if he goes to trial, the jury "would be culled of any minorities" and he'd be tried before an all-white jury? Tenth Circuit: No, it is definitely not okay. And given that misrepresentation about the right to a fair and impartial trial, the client's resulting guilty plea can't be said to have been knowing and voluntary. He gets to withdraw his guilty plea.
In 2020, federal investigators found that Springfield, Mass. cops were routinely using excessive force and then lying and withholding exculpatory evidence not only to cover it up, but also to obtain convictions against the very victims of their violence. Even so, the district attorney's office has continued to withhold from criminal defendants (past and future) that officers involved in their cases were implicated in these abuses. Unanimous Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Prosecutors have an "inescapable constitutional dut[y]" to investigate and disclose such info.