Supremes, the Seventh Circuit, and the Second Amendment: At SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston reports that the Supreme Court will again take up the Second Amendment early in the October 2009 term. Denniston writes that on September 29th, in one of their private conferences, the Justices will consider whether to hear the issues presented in National Rifle Association v. Chicago and McDonald v. Chicago. Both petitions challenge the Seventh Circuit's decision that the Second Amendment applies only to federal laws and does not restrict gun control laws adopted by state, county, or city government. "Incorporation" of the Second Amendment became a hot issue after the Supreme Court decided Heller v. District of Columbia in 2008. Denniston writes that the Court could announce its decision to grant or deny certiorari on the cases as soon as September 30th. Another Second Amendment case, that could come up for review, Maloney v. Rice, has not made its way to the conference calendar yet (Reply Brief due August 28th). The Second Circuit's decision in Maloney also held that the Second Amendment applied only to federal laws. Judge Sotomayor sat on the panel deciding Maloney, and it is expected she will not participate in the case.
California's Early Release Plan: On Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posts an article by Mike Zapler from the San Jose Mercury News detailing the California Senate and Assembly's actions in the controversial prison release bill (ABX3 14). As reported here yesterday, the Senate passed the bill by a narrow margin and if the bill is adopted the prison population will be reduced by 27,300 inmates this year. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass plans to strip the most controversial provisions of the bill and keep an 10,000 more inmates behind bars. Her new plan does way with proposals by Gov. Schwarzenegger to allow home detention with electronic monitoring for inmates with less than 12 months to serve, who are over age 60 or who are medically incapacitated. The Assembly bill also rejects the Governor's plan to lower sentences for certain property crimes to misdemeanors, making those offenders ineligible for prison. For video highlights from yesterday's Senate floor sessions click here.
Speaking of early release... Ashby Jones writes on Wall Street Journal's Law Blog that Governor Schwarzenegger had until today to approve or deny Deborah Peagler's release following the recommendation of a state parole board who last month ruled that Peagler, who is dying from cancer, be released. The Governor did not review the recommendation, meaning the recommendation will stand and Peagler will be released. Russell Goldman at ABC News reports that Peagler's release may not be just because she is terminally ill, she has become a "cause celebre" among domestic abuse advocates who say she was not allowed to present evidence in 1983 that she was tortured, raped and forced into prostitution by her boyfriend Oliver Wilson, then 23. Her advocates claim she was forced to take a plea deal in an era when domestic abuse was not commonly understood as a reason for self-defense.
Could You Search A Computer Under the "Automobile Exception?": Wonders Orin Kerr over at Volokh Conspiracy. The "automobile exception" to the warrant requirement allows police can search a car, and any containers in it, for evidence without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe that evidence is in the car and that evidence could be located in the place they search. Kerr notes that he is not aware of any case that has decided the issue, but reports that United States v. Burgess came very close. In Burgess, the Tenth Circuit devoted about 7 pages to the question before deciding it was not an issue in the case. In Burgess' case police officers obtained a warrant to search his motor home for drugs. While they were searching the motor home they came across hard drives and a laptop. When they searched both hard drives they found child pornography. Burgess was indicted for knowing transportation of child pornography across state lines, and knowing possession of child pornography transported in interstate commerce. Burgess appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence, the admission of images from the hard drive and the length of his sentence. The Tenth Circuit affirmed.
Supreme Court Clerk List: David Lat writes on Above the Law that the Supreme Court has officially released the names of its clerks for the Oct. 2009 term. Lat promises more information on the clerks former clerkships and law school in a later posting, but in the meantime, the official list is available here.
Juvenile LWOP: Sherry Colb has this column at Findlaw on the Graham and Sullivan cases. "As a policy matter, I am sympathetic with the ultimate objective of reducing the severity of punishments in the U.S. However, as a legal matter, I will argue in this column that the Eighth Amendment case against juvenile life without parole is quite weak - given the Court's precedents as well as the nature of the flaws inherent in harsh sentencing more generally." We are always glad to see someone recognize the distinction between "I am against X" and "X is unconstitutional."
California's Early Release Plan: On Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman posts an article by Mike Zapler from the San Jose Mercury News detailing the California Senate and Assembly's actions in the controversial prison release bill (ABX3 14). As reported here yesterday, the Senate passed the bill by a narrow margin and if the bill is adopted the prison population will be reduced by 27,300 inmates this year. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass plans to strip the most controversial provisions of the bill and keep an 10,000 more inmates behind bars. Her new plan does way with proposals by Gov. Schwarzenegger to allow home detention with electronic monitoring for inmates with less than 12 months to serve, who are over age 60 or who are medically incapacitated. The Assembly bill also rejects the Governor's plan to lower sentences for certain property crimes to misdemeanors, making those offenders ineligible for prison. For video highlights from yesterday's Senate floor sessions click here.
Speaking of early release... Ashby Jones writes on Wall Street Journal's Law Blog that Governor Schwarzenegger had until today to approve or deny Deborah Peagler's release following the recommendation of a state parole board who last month ruled that Peagler, who is dying from cancer, be released. The Governor did not review the recommendation, meaning the recommendation will stand and Peagler will be released. Russell Goldman at ABC News reports that Peagler's release may not be just because she is terminally ill, she has become a "cause celebre" among domestic abuse advocates who say she was not allowed to present evidence in 1983 that she was tortured, raped and forced into prostitution by her boyfriend Oliver Wilson, then 23. Her advocates claim she was forced to take a plea deal in an era when domestic abuse was not commonly understood as a reason for self-defense.
Could You Search A Computer Under the "Automobile Exception?": Wonders Orin Kerr over at Volokh Conspiracy. The "automobile exception" to the warrant requirement allows police can search a car, and any containers in it, for evidence without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe that evidence is in the car and that evidence could be located in the place they search. Kerr notes that he is not aware of any case that has decided the issue, but reports that United States v. Burgess came very close. In Burgess, the Tenth Circuit devoted about 7 pages to the question before deciding it was not an issue in the case. In Burgess' case police officers obtained a warrant to search his motor home for drugs. While they were searching the motor home they came across hard drives and a laptop. When they searched both hard drives they found child pornography. Burgess was indicted for knowing transportation of child pornography across state lines, and knowing possession of child pornography transported in interstate commerce. Burgess appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence, the admission of images from the hard drive and the length of his sentence. The Tenth Circuit affirmed.
Supreme Court Clerk List: David Lat writes on Above the Law that the Supreme Court has officially released the names of its clerks for the Oct. 2009 term. Lat promises more information on the clerks former clerkships and law school in a later posting, but in the meantime, the official list is available here.
Juvenile LWOP: Sherry Colb has this column at Findlaw on the Graham and Sullivan cases. "As a policy matter, I am sympathetic with the ultimate objective of reducing the severity of punishments in the U.S. However, as a legal matter, I will argue in this column that the Eighth Amendment case against juvenile life without parole is quite weak - given the Court's precedents as well as the nature of the flaws inherent in harsh sentencing more generally." We are always glad to see someone recognize the distinction between "I am against X" and "X is unconstitutional."
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