Question Presented: Whether a dog sniff at the front door of a suspected grow house by a trained narcotics detection dog is a Fourth Amendment search requiring probable cause? Scotusblog Page Florida supreme court decision, State v. Jardines (4/14/11) Coverage by Lyle Denniston, Orin Kerr (“fun stuff for Fourth Amendment nerds”), Kent Scheidegger (“This is solid police… Read more
A. Cert Grants
Question Presented (composed by Scotusblog): Whether the Fifth and Sixth Amendment principles that this Court established in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and its progeny, apply to the imposition of criminal fines. Scotusblog page Petitioner, a natural gas company, was found guilty by jury of one count of knowingly storing mercury without a permit, 42… Read more
Question Presented (composed by Scotusblog): Whether the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 applies in an initial sentencing proceeding that takes place on or after the statute’s effective date if the offense occurred before that date. Hill: Scotusblog page; consolidated with Dorsey (lower court decision: United States v. Fisher, 635 F.3d 336 (7th Cir. 2011)) The Fair Sentencing Act… Read more
Questions Presented (from Scotusblog): 1) Did the Seventh Circuit violate this Court’s precedent on harmless error when it focused its harmless error analysis solely on the weight of the untainted evidence without considering the potential effect of the error (the erroneous admission of trial counsel’s statements that his client would lose the case and should plead… Read more
Miller: SCOTUSblog page; consolidated with Jackson: SCOTUSblog page Question Presented (from SCOTUSblog): Whether imposing a sentence of life without possibility of parole on an offender who was fourteen at the time he committed capital murder constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Sound at least vaguely familiar? It should: our supreme court resolved… Read more
Docket Decision below: Blueford v. State, 2011 Ark. 8 Question Presented (from cert. pet.): Whether, if a jury deadlocks on a lesser-included offense, the Double Jeopardy Clause bars reprosecution of a greater offense after a jury announces that it has voted against guilt on the greater offense. Cert. Petition SCOTUSblog page Blueford was tried for capital murder… Read more
Docket Decision below: Wood v. Milyard, 10th Cir, 11/26/10 Questions Presented (by the Court): 1) Does an appellate court have the authority to raise sua sponte a 28 U.S.C. §2244(d) statute of limitations defense? 2) Does the State’s declaration before the district court that it “will not challenge, but [is] not conceding, the timeliness of Wood’s habeas petition,” amount to a deliberate… Read more
Docket Decision below: People v. Williams, 238 Ill. 2d 125 (Ill. S. Ct. No. 107550) Question Presented (by the Court): Whether a state rule of evidence allowing an expert witness to testify about the results of DNA testing performed by non-testifying analysts, where the defendant has no opportunity to confront the actual analysts, violates the Confrontation Clause… Read more
