News

Perpetrators of cryptocurrency theft and extortion are convicted and ordered to pay $83,000 restitution. Oops! The gov't requested restitution for the victims in amounts equal to the value of the crypto when it was stolen, not its much-higher value at the time of sentencing. District…

And in en banc news, the D.C. Circuit will not reconsider its…

Los Angeles sheriff's deputy Trevor Kirk is convicted of a federal felony for using excessive force by a jury, but the new administration petitions the court to reduce his offense to a misdemeanor. It does, and the officer is sentenced to…

Navy investigators get a warrant to seize—and only seize—a sailor's phone. They search it anyway and find the bad things, but the district court suppresses the evidence. On appeal, the prosecution pleads "good faith" reliance on a defective warrant.…

Allegation: Grand Rapids, Mich. police are on the lookout for an adult white woman with a ponytail who is suspected in a stabbing. They surround and draw their guns on an 11-year-old Black girl with no ponytail, whom they handcuff and place in a squad car while she screams and cries.…

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Case v. Montana, No. 24-625 (June 2, 2025) (cert. granted), to decide “whether law enforcement may enter a home without a search warrant based on less than probable cause that an emergency is…

A Schrödinger’s motion that has vexed habeas practitioners: How long must a case gather dust in state court before I can seek federal habeas? Well, an Indiana man convicted of murder files a petition for post-conviction relief in state court, which proceeds to do absolutely nothing with the…

Court officials have warned the defender services program will no longer have the funds to pay attorneys, appointed by federal courts to represent criminal defendants who can’t afford representation, for their work over the last few months of this fiscal year (…

Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Fernandez v. United States, No. 24-556 (May 27, 2025) (cert. granted), to decide “whether a combination of ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons’ that may warrant a discretionary sentence reduction under…

The Utah Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that "serious" constitutional violations during the jury trial and resentencing for death row inmate Douglas Stewart Carter merit a new trial. See The Salt…