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Ineffective Counsel at the Plea Stage:  Doug Berman posts on Sentencing Law and Policy that yesterday, in Williams v. Jones, No. 06-7103 (10th Cir, July 8, 2009), the Tenth Circuit determined that Mr. Williams' attorney was deficient at the plea stage and Mr. Williams received ineffective assistance of counsel in rejecting a plea offer.  It concluded that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) had not fashioned a constitutionally permissible remedy for its determination that Mr. Williams received ineffective assistance of counsel at the plea stage.  The Tenth Circuit remanded the case to the district court.  Judge Gorsuch's dissenting opinion stated: "The Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel is an instrumental right designed to ensure a fair trial."  He believed that since Michael Williams had admitted to receiving a fair trial, the Tenth Circuit could not disturb its outcome.  He wrote: "As the Supreme Court has repeatedly held, plea bargains are matters of executive discretion, not judicially enforceable entitlement; due process guarantees a fair trial, not a good bargain."  Commentors on Berman's blog seem to think the case cert. worthy - so stay tuned. 

As the Majority Goes, So Goes Sotomayor:  At SCOTUSblog, Kristina Moore posts news of a Brennan Center for Justice study that found Judge Sotomayor consistently voted with the mainstream of Second Circuit judges when deciding issues of constitutional law.  The study looked at every constitutional case (1,194 total) decided by the Second Circuit during the decade of Judge Sotomayor's service.  Apparently, Judge Sotomayor voted with the majority in 98.2% of constitutional cases.  After examining all the cases, the Brennan Center for Justice concluded that, in the area of constitutional law, Judge Sotomayor is not an activist Judge. "Any honest reading of the facts make it abundantly clear that Judge Sotomayor is a mainstream jurist."  Charlie Savage nicely summarizes the study from the "liberal-leaning legal center" at New York Times' "The Caucus."  Savage reports that in 44 criminal law cases, Judge Sotomayor voted with the majority every time.  David Ingram also posts on the study at Blog of Legal Times.  As if to counter the release of the report, Robert Alt posts on "Sotomayor's Activist Cases" over at NRO's Bench Memos.  He says it will be a daily feature on Bench Memos throughout her confirmation hearings. Today's post focuses on Maloney v. Cuomo, a post-Heller Second Amendment decision.    

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