D.C's New Handgun Act: Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog reports on D.C's "planned response" to the Supreme Court's ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. According to Denniston, the proposed "Firearms Control Emergency Act of 2008" will allow handguns to be "ready-to-use" only in cases of prompt threats to immediate harm in the home. The City Council is expected to act on the bill tomorrow. The proposed law will still ban handguns, except in cases of self-defense in the home. The law also requires all handguns to be stored unloaded, and either disassembled secured with a trigger lock or a gun safe. A link to D.C's News Release on the proposed legislation can be found here.

Ninth Circuit Upholds District Court's Decision To Sentence Below Guidelines: Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy provides a link to the Ninth Circuit's decision in US v. Whitehead, No. 05-50458. The decision, issued today, upheld a district court's decision to impose a sentence that fell below Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Reviewing the decision for abuse of discretion, a majority of the panel found: "that a substantial amount of community service (1000 hours), a hefty restitution order ($50,000) and five years of supervised release were more appropriate than prison." The Ninth Circuit made this ruling despite the fact that Michael Whitehead sold over $1 million worth of counterfeit “access cards” which allowed his customers to access DirecTV’s digital satellite feed without paying for it, and a jury convicted him of breaking various federal laws, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In his dissent, Judge Bybee critiques the distict court's action, stating: "This was not an exercise of discretion so much as an abdication of responsibility. Our substantive review of sentences may be limited after Gall, but being deferential does not mean turning a blind eye to an injustice."

Predicting Obama's Candidates For the Supreme Court: PrawfsBlawg has a post listing the top contenders a Supreme Court nomination should Obama win the presidency. The author lists Diane Wood, Elena Kagan, and Merrick Garland, as the top three contenders. Cass Sunstein also makes the list. Predictions as to who John McCain might appoint is promised for next week.