News

Today the Sentencing Commission allowed for delayed retroactive application of Amendment 821 relating to criminal history—meaning that certain currently incarcerated individuals could be eligible for reduced sentences made effective beginning on February 1, 2024 (…

When you start this D.C. Circuit opinion about a January 6 defendant's sentence, you might think it's about the Capitol riots. You will be disappointed (or delighted) to learn that it's actually a grammar lesson, complete with diagramed sentences. Seriously. Conclusion: This fellow can't be…

Law enforcement agents sometimes find unlawul drugs concealed in vehicles attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico. The drivers of these vehicles commonly deny knowledge of the drugs, arguing they are unknowing couriers, aka "blind mules."  Of course, in a prosecution for…

Doctor is convicted of running pill mill based on 13 counts of unlawfully dispensing schedule II controlled substances (one count for each unlawful prescription). At trial, the government put on evidence of many prescriptions beyond the ones in the indictment. That evidence came from the…

DSO is excited to announce the selection of the twelve host offices for the 2024-2026 Non-Capital Diversity Fellowship Program.  You may learn more about these offices and the program on our website at https://diversityfellowship.…

The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires inmates to exhaust an internal grievance process before filing a federal lawsuit against prison officials, but per the Fourth Circuit, that doesn't mean inmates can be forced to "walk … a nonsensical and perplexing path" to achieve said exhaustion. No…

Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit reminded us once again that “extraordinary and compelling reasons” sufficient to justify compassionate release under the First Step Act are not limited to COVID-19 and medical issues.  In United…

With the federal legal support system potentially millions of dollars short due to budget cuts, Kansas’ federal public defender pleaded with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran to intervene before vulnerable Kansans needing representation begin to suffer (…

Detainee at Polk County, Fla. jail sues officials for, among other things, scanning his legal mail into a computer system. Eleventh Circuit: The First Amendment requires opening legal mail in the detainee's presence and checking only for contraband. That doesn't include scanning it and saving it…

Title 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) bans gun possession by anyone "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance." Man is pulled over for driving without a license plate. Officers, one of whom is DEA, find guns and marihuana cigarette butts. He's sentenced to nearly four years in…