Appeals

Twenty years after being convicted of (vehemently denied) cocaine possession, Erma Wilson learned that the Midland County, Tex. prosecutor (Weldon "Ralph" Petty) on her case was also moonlighting as a law clerk for the presiding judge, a flagrant violation of the constitutional right to a fair trial. Yikes! Though she never served any jail time on the eight-year suspended sentence, the conviction meant she's been unable to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. Can she sue for money damages?

Man: The enhancement that led to my 13-year prison sentence finding pointing a gun meant I "physically restrained" the convenience store cashier is wrong. Eleventh Circuit: Not wrong. Concurrence 1: Not wrong, but only because of our dumb prior caselaw which we have to follow "even if we disagree with it or think that prior panels have overlooked important arguments." Concurrence 2: I welcome our new AI overlords' help in this case.

Ecuadoran national challenges his conviction for illegal reentry into the United States on the grounds that his initial removal was unlawful and the prohibition on reentry was enacted for super racist reasons. Second Circuit: His initial removal was lawful. And though the law's legislative history contains some shocking comments—heck, one legislator observed in 1952, "though I am not a follower of Hitler . . . there is something to it"—those views can't be attributed to all of Congress.

Marcellus Williams, 55, who spent more than two decades on Missouri’s death row convicted of a 1998 murder that he said he did not commit, was killed by lethal injection Tuesday evening after a lengthy and complex effort to exonerate him based on DNA testing issues (access full article).

Statement Regarding The Execution of Khalifah ibn Rayford Daniels Also Known As Marcellus Williams

Khaliifah was extraordinary. Never have we met someone like him, and never will we again.

Pennsylvania death-row prisoner with a history of mental illness is held in solitary confinement for 26 years. He sues a prison official, who does not dispute whether that violates the Eighth Amendment, arguing only that he is entitled to qualified immunity. Third Circuit: There's "no room for doubt that individuals with a known history of serious mental illness have a clearly established right not to be subjected to prolonged solitary confinement without penological justification." No QI.

So get this. Two men on a boat believes it has stumbled on an illegal long-line fishing buoy. It pulls up the lines, cuts free several sharks, and even tells Florida Fish & Wildlife what they'd done. Whoops. Turns out the line was lawfully placed by marine researchers with proper permits. So did the feds thank them or ask them to pay for the lines the cut? Nope. The feds bring felony theft charges that carried up to five years in prison against the crew.

Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Thompson v. United States, No. 23-1095 (Oct. 4, 2024) (cert. granted), to resolve an issue that has divided the lower courts: whether 18 U.S.C. § 1014, which prohibits making a “false statement” for the purpose of influencing certain financial institutions and federal agencies, also prohibits making a statement that is misleading but not false.

The unanimous Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals late Wednesday removed an Idaho federal district judge from a case brought by death row prisoner Thomas Creech over her unwillingness to recuse herself based on a longstanding friendship with Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts, who is named in Creech’s lawsuit (access full article).

The execution of Thomas Eugene Creech, 73, one of the nation's longest-serving death row inmates was put on hold Wednesday, the latest in a number of botched lethal injections across the country (access full article).

For nearly an hour, Thomas Eugene Creech lay strapped to a table in an Idaho execution chamber as medical team members poked and prodded at his arms and legs, hands and feet, trying to find a vein through which they could end his life.