Supreme Court Petitions to Watch: Today, SCOTUSblog's Erin Miller posted an "extra-long edition" of its "Petitions to Watch," featuring cases up for consideration at the Justices' private conference on January 8. As the opening of Erin's post indicates, there are quite a few cases up for consideration this Friday. Some interesting criminal cases include Alameida v. Phelps (09-519), addressing whether Federal Rule 60(b) can be used to circumvent the successive petition rule when a habeas corpus petition was denied on a procedural basis. The Ninth Circuit's opinion, written by Judge Reinhardt, overturned a 1998 district court ruling that Phelps had filed his federal habeas petition 15 days late under 28 U.S.C. ยง2244. He reasoned that a 2001 ruling had changed the way the Ninth Circuit interpreted California's habeas law, and could be considered an "extraordinary circumstance" under Federal Rule 60(b) that would justify reopening Phelps' petition. Also up for review is the Eighth Circuit's decision to affirm a grant of habeas to a man convicted of sexually assaulting his three-year-old nephew. In Carlson v. Bobadilla (09-560) the Eighth Circuit found that Carlson's Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause rights were violated by a statement made by an abused child to a child-protection worker was allowed at trial. The Minnesota Attorney General is arguing that the Eighth Circuit exceeded its authority under AEDPA.
Restitution for Child Pornography Victims: At Sentencing Law and Policy and Volokh Conspiracy, Doug Berman and Paul Cassell discuss a district court's order chastising prosecutors for failing to pursue restitution for victims in his district. Berman's post links to a Minneapolis-St.Paul's Star Tribune article by James Walsh discussing the order. Walsh reports that U. S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz "demand[ed] to know why restitution was not even requested by the U. S. attorney's office in the case of a Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography." Cassell's post links to Judge Schiltz's order and comments that restitution in child pornography cases "is an interesting and important [issue] that seems destined to ultimately go to the U.S. Supreme Court."
State Legislatures Tackle Sexting: Corey Rayburn Yung writes on his blog Sex Crimes that "[w]ith the popularity of shows like Gossip Girl and 90210 among teens, the practice of sexting will spread," and state legislatures will have to "create laws that will balance out the desire to protect children from being sexually exploited and the desire to protect children from life changing consequences from the mistakes of youth." Yung reports that states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Vermont have been addressing sexting in various ways. For example, Vermont has decriminalized sexting for teenagers, while Florida charges teens with child pornography when they send or post pictures of themselves.
No More Detainee Transfers to Yemen: At Blog of Legal Times, David Ingram reports that after a request by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama have decided to indefinitely suspend transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen. Senator Sessions had requested that the administration stop the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to an anti-terrorism program in Saudi Arabia. The program reportedly tries to turn former detainees away from terrorism. Ingram reports that today, President Obama said he would no longer allow transfer to Yemen, but otherwise the Department of Justice is standing by current policy. On Bloomberg.com John McCormick also covers the President's decision.
Restitution for Child Pornography Victims: At Sentencing Law and Policy and Volokh Conspiracy, Doug Berman and Paul Cassell discuss a district court's order chastising prosecutors for failing to pursue restitution for victims in his district. Berman's post links to a Minneapolis-St.Paul's Star Tribune article by James Walsh discussing the order. Walsh reports that U. S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz "demand[ed] to know why restitution was not even requested by the U. S. attorney's office in the case of a Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography." Cassell's post links to Judge Schiltz's order and comments that restitution in child pornography cases "is an interesting and important [issue] that seems destined to ultimately go to the U.S. Supreme Court."
State Legislatures Tackle Sexting: Corey Rayburn Yung writes on his blog Sex Crimes that "[w]ith the popularity of shows like Gossip Girl and 90210 among teens, the practice of sexting will spread," and state legislatures will have to "create laws that will balance out the desire to protect children from being sexually exploited and the desire to protect children from life changing consequences from the mistakes of youth." Yung reports that states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Vermont have been addressing sexting in various ways. For example, Vermont has decriminalized sexting for teenagers, while Florida charges teens with child pornography when they send or post pictures of themselves.
No More Detainee Transfers to Yemen: At Blog of Legal Times, David Ingram reports that after a request by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama have decided to indefinitely suspend transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen. Senator Sessions had requested that the administration stop the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to an anti-terrorism program in Saudi Arabia. The program reportedly tries to turn former detainees away from terrorism. Ingram reports that today, President Obama said he would no longer allow transfer to Yemen, but otherwise the Department of Justice is standing by current policy. On Bloomberg.com John McCormick also covers the President's decision.
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