Equitable Tolling in Holland v. Florida: At SCOTUSblog, Harvard Law School student Kate Wever recaps Monday's oral argument in Holland v. Florida. Wever reports that Holland's attorney, Todd Scher, used the facts of Holland's case to support his argument that Holland was entitled to equitable tolling. When Justice Sotomayor questioned him on where to draw the line for future cases, and to distinguish between the negligence and "intentional malfeasance," Scher returned to the facts of Holland's case to demonstrate that his client was entitled to equitable tolling. Florida's Solicitor General, Scott Makar, endured questioning by Justice Breyer on whether equitable tolling should be denied even when the missed
deadline resulted from an earthquake, fire, flood, or counsel being
kidnapped. Although Makar initially maintained (consistent with Florida's brief) that it should be,
by the end of his argument he appeared to concede that equitable
tolling might be available in situations external to the
attorney-client relationship. CJLF's brief is available here.
Washington Changes to One-Drug Execution Method: Yesterday, Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte reported that Washington has become the second state to switch to a one-drug system for executing prisoners. According to La Corte, Washington's Attorney General filed a motion with the state Supreme Court on Tuesday arguing that now that Washington has changed its protocol portions of the appeal of death-row inmate Darold Stenson, challenging of the drug protocol's constitutionality are now moot. The state Department of Corrections is in the process of rewriting the execution policy that will make Washington the second state in the nation to use the one-drug method.
Backlash Against Freeing Prisoners: At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman links to a New York Times article by Monica Davey reporting on public backlash in the wake of state legislation trimming prison populations by expanding parole programs and early releases. Davey reports that states like Colorado, Michigan and Oregon are reducing their prison populations to reduce prison spending. She reports that Michigan, which reduced its state prison population by 3,200 inmates last year, is experiencing its highest parole rate in the past 16 years. According to Davey, parole has become such a controversial issue in Michigan that Attorney General Mike Cox, who normally defends the State Department of Corrections and its Parole and Commutation Board in their parole decisions, has also filed separate amicus briefs in eight cases opposing some of the state's parole decisions. Yesterday, Berman also posted a link to The Sentencing Project's reports demonstrating that states are reforming sentencing policies and scaling back on the use of imprisonment in an effort to control spending.
Putting Seventh Circuit Judges on the Stand: Yesterday, Orin Kerr posted Cross Examining Frank Easterbrook on Volokh Conspiracy, and described Judge Easterbrook's testimony in the trial of Harold Turner, the New Jersey blogger charged with encouraging his readers to murder the three judges as retribution for their decision upholding a Chicago handgun ban. Mark Fass has the story on Law.com, and Kerr posts on the attempted cross-examination of Judge Easterbook by defense counsel Michael Orozco. Apparently after Judge Easterbrook told Orozco that he was "not grasping the case," he went on to give an extended history of the Fourteenth Amendment and its relationship to the Second Amendment, and U.S. Supreme Court precedent regarding both amendments dating back to 1873. Kerr wonders what the jury was thinking. Ashby Jones posts more on the Judge Easterbrook's testimony, including his response to Orozco's question about what might happen if the Supreme Court overturns McDonald v. Chicago. "If it's overturned," Orozco asked, "doesn't that make Hal Turner correct?" Responded Easterbrook: "This blog post says any judge who decides a case incorrectly is supposed to be assassinated. That is not the way the system works."
Washington Changes to One-Drug Execution Method: Yesterday, Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte reported that Washington has become the second state to switch to a one-drug system for executing prisoners. According to La Corte, Washington's Attorney General filed a motion with the state Supreme Court on Tuesday arguing that now that Washington has changed its protocol portions of the appeal of death-row inmate Darold Stenson, challenging of the drug protocol's constitutionality are now moot. The state Department of Corrections is in the process of rewriting the execution policy that will make Washington the second state in the nation to use the one-drug method.
Backlash Against Freeing Prisoners: At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman links to a New York Times article by Monica Davey reporting on public backlash in the wake of state legislation trimming prison populations by expanding parole programs and early releases. Davey reports that states like Colorado, Michigan and Oregon are reducing their prison populations to reduce prison spending. She reports that Michigan, which reduced its state prison population by 3,200 inmates last year, is experiencing its highest parole rate in the past 16 years. According to Davey, parole has become such a controversial issue in Michigan that Attorney General Mike Cox, who normally defends the State Department of Corrections and its Parole and Commutation Board in their parole decisions, has also filed separate amicus briefs in eight cases opposing some of the state's parole decisions. Yesterday, Berman also posted a link to The Sentencing Project's reports demonstrating that states are reforming sentencing policies and scaling back on the use of imprisonment in an effort to control spending.
Putting Seventh Circuit Judges on the Stand: Yesterday, Orin Kerr posted Cross Examining Frank Easterbrook on Volokh Conspiracy, and described Judge Easterbrook's testimony in the trial of Harold Turner, the New Jersey blogger charged with encouraging his readers to murder the three judges as retribution for their decision upholding a Chicago handgun ban. Mark Fass has the story on Law.com, and Kerr posts on the attempted cross-examination of Judge Easterbook by defense counsel Michael Orozco. Apparently after Judge Easterbrook told Orozco that he was "not grasping the case," he went on to give an extended history of the Fourteenth Amendment and its relationship to the Second Amendment, and U.S. Supreme Court precedent regarding both amendments dating back to 1873. Kerr wonders what the jury was thinking. Ashby Jones posts more on the Judge Easterbrook's testimony, including his response to Orozco's question about what might happen if the Supreme Court overturns McDonald v. Chicago. "If it's overturned," Orozco asked, "doesn't that make Hal Turner correct?" Responded Easterbrook: "This blog post says any judge who decides a case incorrectly is supposed to be assassinated. That is not the way the system works."
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