Split 5-4 capital punishment decisions will keep arising with the Supreme Court's hardcore death penalty greenlighters (Justices Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch), the usual remaining members of that five (Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh) and the four more "liberal" justices who at least question the...
Capital punishment in the United States has proceeded somewhat away from an arbitrary and capricious system that previously allowed judges rather than juries to decide a death sentence, and for people to be executed for crimes other than murder. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I...
Senators confirm Brett Kavanaugh by a razor-thin margin. Senators yesterday afternoon confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court (see my views on Kavanaugh here and here) by a razor-thin margin of 50-48-1 (Sen. Murkowski announcing "present" rather than "nay" out of courtesy for the unavailable...
Kavanaugh is an inevitable result of Trump's election as president. He is the tip of the iceberg of Trump's appointing scores of federal judges who will serve lifetime appointments outlasting his presidency by many years, says Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz...
When I started doing criminal defense in 1991, I was reminded that drug cases often are won or lost by whether the drugs get suppressed. Seeking suppression of physical evidence is important in any criminal case alleging possession of contraband, and beyond, which is why...
In Bravo-Fernandez v. U.S., ___ U.S. ___ (Nov. 29, 2016), the jury returned inconsistent verdicts of conviction and acquittal under separate counts of the same statute. Bravo-Fernandez got his conviction overturned on appeal due to erroneous jury instructions, therefor enabling a retrial....
Donald Trump wants justices "very much in the mold of" the late Antonin Scalia, whom I never wanted on the Supreme Court. He has listed twenty one potential Supreme Court nominees while in the same breath praising the input of the Federalist Society and Heritage...
Today's Bosse decision is more monumental than might first meet the eye. The United States Supreme Court has at least three justices that are very friendly to preserving the death penalty....
Being human, judges might feel inclined to fix lapses and loopholes left by statute writers. Judges must resist any such temptation. Lapses by statute writers stay in the laps of statute writers, and judges have no business fixing the oversights and mistakes of statute writers,...
In nominating Judge Merrick Garland today to the Supreme Court, President Obama has placed orthodoxy, practicality, and safety for a greater chance at an approved nomination, above the possibility of nominating perhaps the first criminal defense-experienced lawyer to the bench, for instance through previously short-listed...
I never wanted Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. He gave with one hand to civil liberties with some of his votes and opinions on Fourth, Fifth (due process in sentencing), and Sixth (Confrontation Clause) Amendment rights for criminal defendants, but took away much...
The story of the American concentration camps for ethnic Japanese is not some mere history story nor only a story about racism towards ethnic Japanese and ethnic Asians. I agree with past Senator Daniel Inouye's underlining in a talk at my college in 1981 that...
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court gave retrospective effect to Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. ___ (2012), which prohibits mandatory, versus discretionary, life without parole sentences for those who committed crimes while under eighteen years old....
McDonnell is no less deserving of justice than anyone else, and perhaps his criminal court ordeal has made him more compassionate for criminal defendants. On the other hand, McDonnell's huge legal bills underline how unjust the criminal justice system is for the vast majority of...
For those who might end up arguing a Supreme Court case, it is essential to watch and experience the body language, persona, essence and energy of the justices...
Sentenced to two years in prison for public corruption, former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has by now spent substantially more funds than any financial benefit he obtained from his convicted corruption, on top of great angst and likely losing any chance of becoming president or...
The United States Supreme Court sits on a big plaza where litigants and their lawyers often gather after oral argument.However, if one wants to hand out leaflets or otherwise express their grievances outside of oral argument before the justices, they will be relegated to the...
