Changing the Definition of "Life Sentence": At Homicide Survivors, Dudley Sharp has a post highlighting an article that discusses Wisconsin's early release program. The article, Life Sentence and Out of Prison, by Jessica McBride, reports on a provision "tucked into" Wisconsin's budget last year that will allow offenders serving life sentences to petition for early release based on their age, as opposed to terminal sickness. Petitions for early release will be vested in an unelected board, consisting of the governor's handpicked chairperson and Corrections employees. McBride also writes that a new release possibility based on health will allow early release to inmates who demonstrate "extraordinary health circumstances" - defined in the state
law changes as advanced age, infirmity, disability, or need for medical
treatment that can't be properly met in prison. This is different from Wisconsin's previous policy of allowing early release for inmates with less than six months to live.
NRA Gets Oral Argument Time: Blog of Legal Times reporter, Tony Mauro, reports that yesterday, the Supreme Court granted the NRA's motion for time during oral arguments in McDonald v. City of Chicago. According to Mauro, the NRA will take "unspecified number of minutes" from the plaintiffs challenging Chicago's gun restrictions, and their attorney Alan Gura of Gura & Possessky of D.C. and Virginia. Gura, the same attorney who argued before the Supreme Court in D.C. v. Heller, apparently opposed the NRA's request for argument time. He argued that the NRA's argument would "be redundant." The NRA's attorney, former solicitor general Paul Clement, disagreed. He said that the NRA would argue a more traditional "due process clause" argument for incorporating the Second Amendment, whereas Gura will argue that the "privileges or immunities clause" favors incorporation.
Prosecutor Immunity Issue Heads to Supreme Court: At Blog of Legal Times, Mike Scarcella reports that federal prosecutor, Daniel Zachem, has filed a certiorari petition asking the Supreme Court to examine his case and resolve circuit splits regarding whether to afford a federal prosecutor working with grand juries absolute immunity. Zachem, an assistant U. S. attorney in the District of Columbia, seeks the appeal of a June 2009 ruling from the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that stripped Zachem of absolute immunity and remanded the grand juror's case to the U. S. District Court for further proceedings on whether the prosecutor is entitled to qualified immunity. Zachem's attorney, Michael Martinez, believes the D.C. Circuit ruling "erodes vital protections that have long been afforded to prosecutors engaged in conduct that is intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process."
A New Solution to California's Prison Problem: Ashby Jones writes on Wall Street Journal's Law Blog that on Monday, Governor Schwarzenegger offered an "out-of-the-box potential solution" for California's overcrowded prisons. His suggestion? Pay Mexico to build new prisons and send incarcerated illegal immigrants south of the border. The Governor's spokesman Aaron McLear said that this was not a "proposal." The Governor was simply "mentioning a creative solution we should talk about."
NRA Gets Oral Argument Time: Blog of Legal Times reporter, Tony Mauro, reports that yesterday, the Supreme Court granted the NRA's motion for time during oral arguments in McDonald v. City of Chicago. According to Mauro, the NRA will take "unspecified number of minutes" from the plaintiffs challenging Chicago's gun restrictions, and their attorney Alan Gura of Gura & Possessky of D.C. and Virginia. Gura, the same attorney who argued before the Supreme Court in D.C. v. Heller, apparently opposed the NRA's request for argument time. He argued that the NRA's argument would "be redundant." The NRA's attorney, former solicitor general Paul Clement, disagreed. He said that the NRA would argue a more traditional "due process clause" argument for incorporating the Second Amendment, whereas Gura will argue that the "privileges or immunities clause" favors incorporation.
Prosecutor Immunity Issue Heads to Supreme Court: At Blog of Legal Times, Mike Scarcella reports that federal prosecutor, Daniel Zachem, has filed a certiorari petition asking the Supreme Court to examine his case and resolve circuit splits regarding whether to afford a federal prosecutor working with grand juries absolute immunity. Zachem, an assistant U. S. attorney in the District of Columbia, seeks the appeal of a June 2009 ruling from the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that stripped Zachem of absolute immunity and remanded the grand juror's case to the U. S. District Court for further proceedings on whether the prosecutor is entitled to qualified immunity. Zachem's attorney, Michael Martinez, believes the D.C. Circuit ruling "erodes vital protections that have long been afforded to prosecutors engaged in conduct that is intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process."
A New Solution to California's Prison Problem: Ashby Jones writes on Wall Street Journal's Law Blog that on Monday, Governor Schwarzenegger offered an "out-of-the-box potential solution" for California's overcrowded prisons. His suggestion? Pay Mexico to build new prisons and send incarcerated illegal immigrants south of the border. The Governor's spokesman Aaron McLear said that this was not a "proposal." The Governor was simply "mentioning a creative solution we should talk about."
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