On April 6, 2011, the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued a press release stating that the Commission amended the Sentencing Guidelines to account for the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. The changes will be permanent and will result in lower sentences for those facing mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine offenses. Commission chair, [...]
I have been away from blogging for a week, but wanted to highlight a few noteworthy pieces from the legal blogosphere. I ran across this ATL article about a D.C. Superior Court judge that declared a mistrial in a murder case because the defense lawyer was horribly incompetent. The attorney was a recent [...]
The forthcoming decision in Turner v. Rogers, No. 10-10, will represent one of those rare cases in which there is the very real chance that no one will win, at least long-term. The case pits the liberty of a man unable to pay his child support payments versus the cost that states would [...]
On Wednesday, Annie and I visited the Supreme Court. Although I have studied, filed briefs in, written about, and generally gushed over the Court for eleven years, it was my first visit to the place that has enormously impacted my life. I was kind of nervous that the Court could not possibly [...]
It was kind of a quiet week here at the CockleBur–most likely because it has been a largely quiet week in the legal world. So I wanted to just throw out some things I have been thinking about. Next week is a huge week for me. My wife and I are traveling [...]
Justice Alito’s dissent in Snyder v. Phelps, 09-751, has received more press than any of his previous Supreme Court opinions. I covered this topic last week on the CockleBur, as did Dahlia Lithwick, Jeffrey Rosen at the Washington Post, Michael Dorf, Josh Blackman, and the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties. Yesterday, John Paul Rollert at the Huffington [...]
On next Tuesday, March 22nd, I will be speaking at the University of Virginia Law School. The gathering will occur at 12:30, and the UVA Innocence Clinic will be providing lunch. Special thanks to Allison Harnack for putting the event together. The blurb is below. The University of Virginia Innocence Project Presents [...]
I usually try to not follow celebrity legal dramas. I really have no idea what Lindsey Lohan's latest case is about. But I will admit that the Charlie Sheen madness sucked me in. As most of you who have watched television in the last week know Charlie was fired from Two and a Half Men. Then [...]
I forgot to post about the podcast I did with the Josh Blackman Blog. Josh is a prolific writer: he regularly blogs and writes law reviews. In addition, he is the co-founder of Fantasy SCOTUS and president of the Harlan Institute—a non-profit organization that uses social media to bring a stylized law school experience into the [...]