McDonald v. City of Chicago, USSC No. 08-1521, 6/28/10 Two years ago, in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. ___ (2008), we held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, and we struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession… Read more
OT 09
Magwood v. Patterson, USSC No. 09-158, 6/24/10 After a defendant has been resentenced in state court pursuant to relief granted on a federal habeas petition, a second federal habeas petition challenging the new sentence will be treated as a first petition (vs. a “2nd or successive” petition), even if raising grounds that could have been raised… Read more
City of Ontario v. Quon, USSC No. 08-1392, 6/17/10 Assuming without deciding that police officer Quon had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the text messages of his department-issued pager, the Court concludes that the warrantless review of Quon’s pager transcript was reasonable because it was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose and was not… Read more
Dolan v. United States, USSC No. 09-367, 6/14/10 This case concerns the remedy for missing a statutory deadline. The statute in question focuses upon mandatory restitution for victims of crimes. It provides that “the court shall set a date for the final determination of the victim’s losses, not to exceed 90 days after sentencing.” 18… Read more
Holland v. Florida, USSC No. 09-5327, 6/14/10 Habeas – Filing Deadline – Equitable Tolling, Generally The 1-year limitations period for filing an 18 U.S.C. §2254 habeas petition is subject to “equitable tolling”: We have not decided whether AEDPA’s statutory limitations period may be tolled for equitable reasons. … Now, like all 11 Courts of Appeals… Read more
Barber v. Thomas, USSC No. 09-5201, 6/7/10 Credit for good behavior for a federal prisoner is awarded after, rather than before, the fact under 18 U. S. C. §3624(b)(1). Of course, computation of federal sentence credit will ordinarily be a matter of indifference to the state practitioner, but the Court’s discussion of the rule of… Read more
Berghuis v. Thompkins, USSC No. 08-1470, 6/1/10 Thompkins’ acknowledgment that he prayed for God’s forgiveness for the shooting was admissible as valid waiver of Miranda rights, despite being preceded by nearly 3 hours of silence during custodial interrogation. Rights must be invoked unequivocally, or not at all: The Court has not yet stated whether an… Read more
Carr v. U.S., USSC No. 08-1301, 6/1/10 … the Act established a federal criminal offense covering, inter alia, any person who (1) “is required to register under [SORNA],” (2) “travels in interstate or foreign commerce,” and (3) “knowingly fails to register or update a registration.” 18 U. S. C. §2250(a). At issue in this case… Read more
