A Look into California Sentencing: At Sentencing Law and Policy today, Doug Berman posts links to two California News stories reporting on sentences being requested by prosecutors. In his first post, Berman links to Amina Khan's LA Times piece detailing a prosecutor's decision to seek a 27-month sentence for Michael David Barrett, who pled guilty to stalking ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, and is accused of filming her through the peephole of her hotel room and posting pictures on the Internet. Berman comments that 27-months "seems pretty low," given the harm caused by the defendant's actions. In his second post, Berman links to a Sacramento Bee story by Hudson Sangree. This story reports on a prosecutor's decision to request a life sentence for a man who earned his third strike by stealing a bag of shredded cheese from a grocery store. The defendant, Robert Preston Ferguson, has a lengthy criminal history that dates back 35 years, including six first-degree burglary convictions. He had served 22 years in prison before being convicted for his final offense.
Examining Remarks Made by Justice Thomas: Today, on FindLaw.com, Mike Dorf comments on recent remarks made by Justice Thomas at the University of Florida Law School. Dorf writes that after viewing the Justice's speech, he believes that "Clarence Thomas is an original thinker whose ideas deserve to be taken seriously." Dorf then goes on to examine Justice Thomas' remark that critics should refrain from "undermining" the Court, which, as an "institution should be respected and preserved." (hat tip Orin Kerr at Volokh Conspiracy)
Will the Ninth Circuit's Strip Search Case Goes to SCOTUS? That's what Eugene Volokh starts to wonder over at Volokh Conspiracy as he discusses yesterday's ruling in Bull v. City & County of San Francisco (en banc). The case, (discussed by Kent here, and Volokh here) upheld San Francisco's policy of strip-searching everyone booked into the jail. Volokh finds this noteworthy, because as Kent noted yesterday, if the case goes to SCOTUS, Justice Breyer can be expected to recuse. Apparently, Justice Breyer has made it a practice to recuse in cases that were handled by his brother Charles, and Judge Charles Breyer was the district court judge that initially decided against San Francisco's policy. Volokh writes that to prevail, plaintiffs need five votes and with Justice Breyer recusing, that requires at least two votes from the Court's conservative wing. He doesn't think this is very likely.
This Case is Tricky, We Need to "CVSG": At SCOTUSblog, Lisa McElroy explains why a Supreme Court case calling for a CVSG "may well be some of the most interesting cases of the Term." She writes that these cases (the most recent of which can be found here) are cases that Call for the Views of the Solicitor General. According to McElroy, the Court will CVSG a case when the government is not a party to the action, but the Court is interested in knowing the Solicitor General's view anyway. These cases are most likely to arise when a lower court's interpretation of a federal law has been called into question and the Supreme Court must decide whether to step in. One crime related case on the CVSG list? Robertson v. U. S. ex rel. Watson (08-6261), which will address whether a D.C. law authorizing a victim of domestic abuse to enforce violation of a civil protection order, via criminal contempt, violates due process.
Examining Remarks Made by Justice Thomas: Today, on FindLaw.com, Mike Dorf comments on recent remarks made by Justice Thomas at the University of Florida Law School. Dorf writes that after viewing the Justice's speech, he believes that "Clarence Thomas is an original thinker whose ideas deserve to be taken seriously." Dorf then goes on to examine Justice Thomas' remark that critics should refrain from "undermining" the Court, which, as an "institution should be respected and preserved." (hat tip Orin Kerr at Volokh Conspiracy)
Will the Ninth Circuit's Strip Search Case Goes to SCOTUS? That's what Eugene Volokh starts to wonder over at Volokh Conspiracy as he discusses yesterday's ruling in Bull v. City & County of San Francisco (en banc). The case, (discussed by Kent here, and Volokh here) upheld San Francisco's policy of strip-searching everyone booked into the jail. Volokh finds this noteworthy, because as Kent noted yesterday, if the case goes to SCOTUS, Justice Breyer can be expected to recuse. Apparently, Justice Breyer has made it a practice to recuse in cases that were handled by his brother Charles, and Judge Charles Breyer was the district court judge that initially decided against San Francisco's policy. Volokh writes that to prevail, plaintiffs need five votes and with Justice Breyer recusing, that requires at least two votes from the Court's conservative wing. He doesn't think this is very likely.
This Case is Tricky, We Need to "CVSG": At SCOTUSblog, Lisa McElroy explains why a Supreme Court case calling for a CVSG "may well be some of the most interesting cases of the Term." She writes that these cases (the most recent of which can be found here) are cases that Call for the Views of the Solicitor General. According to McElroy, the Court will CVSG a case when the government is not a party to the action, but the Court is interested in knowing the Solicitor General's view anyway. These cases are most likely to arise when a lower court's interpretation of a federal law has been called into question and the Supreme Court must decide whether to step in. One crime related case on the CVSG list? Robertson v. U. S. ex rel. Watson (08-6261), which will address whether a D.C. law authorizing a victim of domestic abuse to enforce violation of a civil protection order, via criminal contempt, violates due process.
Leave a comment