Appeals

Two Richmond, Va. police approached a man walking on the street whom they believe match the description of a suspect. Cops: "Yo! Let me talk to you real quick" and motioned man to come over. Man: "Nah" and kept walking. Cop: Yo! Hey! And continued towards man. Man: about to take off running but immediately trips and fall. Cops tackle and arrest man, then searched the bag the man had on him, which contained a gun and box of ammunition. Man: firearm and un-Mirandized statements made after gun found should be suppressed. District court: no, cops had reasonable suspicion.

In a 6 to 3 opinion written by Justice Thomas, the Court held that the First Circuit improperly vacated Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death sentence. See United States v. Tsarnaev, No. 20-443 (Mar. 4, 2022) (view opinion).  Breyer dissents with an opinion joined by Justices Kagan and Sotomayor.  

For nearly 90 minutes on Tuesday, the high court grappled with the question of whether good faith is a defense for doctors criminally prosecuted for unlawful distribution of controlled substances (view coverage).

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of United States v. Merle Denezpi, a Navajo man hit with a 30-year prison sentence after a Colorado federal jury found him guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country.

Sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenges to a criminal conviction are notoriously difficult to win. California man and alleged gang member charged with drug conspiracy. Man: I left gang and bought drugs for my use. Contacts with gang is for friendship purpose. Jury: we believe defense and prosecution. Acquits on some distribution charges; convicts on drug distribution conspiracy and gun charges. Man appeals.

The Ninth Circuit invalidated the subsection of a law that makes it a crime to encourage unlawful immigration, ruling Thursday it is overbroad and covers speech that is protected by the First Amendment (view full article).

A law allowing U.S. authorities to arrest and prosecute certain foreign nationals for drug crimes committed in international waters unconstitutionally extends U.S. jurisdiction beyond the limits of international law, the First Circuit held.

A judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is facing fallout over his insistence that a lawyer remove his mask during in-person oral arguments (access full article).

Less than two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in McGirt v.

Today, the United States Supreme Court decided in McGirt v. Oklahoma, No. 18-9526 (July 9, 2020), that for purposes of the Major Crimes Act, land throughout much of Eastern Oklahoma reserved for the Creek Nation since the 19th Century remains a Native American Territory. The Major Crimes Act allocates responsibility for prosecuting major crimes committed by Native Americans on an Indian reservation to the federal government, not state authorities. Mr.