Eighth Circuit Archives - Cockle Legal Briefs

A Pro Se Prisoner Victory

As Professor Michael W. Martin and I pointed out in our new articles in the Fordham Law Review (here and here), although a huge swath of litigation occurring in federal courts is a result of filings from pro se prisoners, very few of those litigants actually obtain some modicum of success, let alone win a new [...]

Is the Eighth Becoming the New Ninth Circuit When It Comes to Federal Sentencing Cases?

Shon R. Hopwood2019-03-18T18:48:05-05:00March 10th, 2011|Tags: Eighth Circuit, Gall v. United States, Greenlaw v. United States, Pepper v. United States, sentencing|

There has been much ado lately about the Sixth Circuit’s current 15-game losing streak and the Ninth Circuit’s perpetual trouncing by the Supreme Court. But gone unnoticed is another losing streak, one that has been just as disrespectful to the spirit of Supreme Court precedent: the Eighth Circuit’s dismal record in sentencing cases.