Supreme Court

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...

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.

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,...

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...

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...