U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on the Armed Career Criminal Act on Wednesday. The law makes defendants eligible for longer prison sentences if they have been previously convicted of three violent felonies or serious drug offenses. Violent felonies are defined to include those that "present[] a serious potential risk of physical injury to another." See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). According to this AP story, this decision makes it easier for prosecutors to seek an increased sentence for those who commit attempted burglary, which is a violent felony under that definition.

A Bill that would end sentences of life without the possibility of parole for teen killers barely passed a state California Senate committee on Tuesdaywith a 3-2 vote. In a SF Chronicle article by Mark Martin, Sen. Leland Yee supports the legislation by claiming juvenile's brains are still developing and the possibilty for rehabilitation after 25 years in prison is great. Critics are law enforcement groups that state these teens who commit horrendous crimes should pay behind bars for the rest of their life. The Senate Appropriations Committee will be the next to have a word on this measure.

Superior Court Judge Robert Spitzer of Riverside, California was deemed to have gone too far by a judicial panel for improperly intervening in the murder trial of Vondetrick Carr in 2004. An AP story reports that after the jury deadlocked, Spitzer held a private conversation with the mother of the 13-year-old victim who was also a potential witness for the re-trial. The judge also stood accused of continuously trying to persuade the prosecution to seek manslaughter instead of murder, among other judicial misconduct charges. This issue will now go before the state Commission on Judicial Performance where it will be decided whether or not to punish Spitzer.