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District court’s sentence of defendant convicted of illegal reentry into the United States is vacated and remanded where it is within the discretion of a district court to consider a variance on the basis of disparity created by lower immigration sentences in fast-track jurisdictions in light of Kimbrough v. U.S., 552 U.S. 85, 128 S.Ct. 558(2007). Read US v. Arrelucea-Zamudio, No. 08-4397 Appellate Information On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D....

Conviction of defendant for armed bank robbery is affirmed where: 1) the affidavit was ultimately sufficient to support the determination of probable cause for the warrant; 2) defendant’s contention that the affidavit supporting the application for the warrant contained material false statements is rejected; and 3) defendant’s argument that his confession should have been suppressed because the large quantities of drugs and alcohol he ingested prior to his arrest and that his confession invalidated his waiver of his Miranda rights is rejected, and if defendant was not under any influence that would diminish his capacity, there is no circumstance that would lead the court to question the validity of his Miranda waiver, under any standard of review....

Conviction for for shielding illegal aliens is reversed where defendant’s conduct did not meet the requirements of the test established in Ozcelik and thus there is no evidence from which a reasonable juror could infer that defendant’s actions constituted substantial facilitation of the women’s remaining in the United States illegally. Read US v. Cuevas-Reyes, No. 08-3059 Appellate InformationOn Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands....

Let’s start with the main point: never sign something blank. Don’t do it when asked, and don’t do it for fun and leave it around. When it comes to areas like employment, real estate, landlord-tenant, criminal charges, or contracts, having your signature on a paper that is easy to manipulate doesn’t spell your name. It spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e. Federal Laws Surrounding Signatures Legally, no one can force you to sign anything. Adding your signature can take an otherwise insignificant document and turn it into a contract, so the choice is serious....

In a petition for review of the BIA’s order denying Petitioners protection under the Convention Against Torture, the petition is denied, where failure by the government to provide a complete record of the proceedings below does not constitute a due process violation unless a petitioner can show prejudice. Read Witjaksono v. Holder, No. 08-9540 Appellate Information Filed July 17, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Lucero Counsel For Petitioners: Lisa Suzanne Anderson, VHF Law Group, Los Angeles, CA...

Have you been watching ABC’s “How To Get Away With Murder”? The latest episode of Shonda Rhimes’ new hit drama introduced us to the (fake) law school’s (fake) law journal, the Middleton Law Review. So we decided to co-opt the name for our inaugural review of the show that Viola Davis tries so hard to make work. The first season’s third offering, “Smile, or Go to Jail,” can’t seem to decide whether it’s a procedural or a long-form mystery, and we have some outside advice for each member of Annalise’s team about their roles in this drama....

Despite obvious government participation and what might be construed as extensive involvement, the Tenth Circuit ultimately did not see any applicable entrapment or other defenses. Defendants Randy Dyke and Don Steele were operating a small crime ring on a Kansas farm, where they forged checks, and dealt pills and marijuana. When undercover government agents showed up, they proposed the idea of counterfeiting currency and manufacturing methamphetamine, the agents claiming that they had the resources to make this plan come to fruition....

A search incident to arrest. It’s a simple concept. If the police are arresting you lawfully, they can dig through that grocery sack filled with cash and bullets that is dangling from your left arm. Or, as the court held in United States v. Robinson, and reiterated recently in Maryland v. King, the search of a person and the items within his immediate control require no additional justification beyond the arrest itself....

This post was updated on January 11, 2023. While most law students think law school prepares them for legal practice, that notion is far from the actual truth. Law schools teach law students how to think like a lawyer rather than how to practice law. Fortunately, though, many of the legal life lessons that students learn during law school will actually help them when they pass the bar and start practicing in the real world....

Someone said decisions from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals are so far right they are practically left. That was five years ago. Since then, President Trump has named five judges to the the appeals court. It’s fair to say the court is marching right along as usual. For example, the Fifth Circuit has managed to stir liberal critics into a frenzy while getting cheers from conservatives in three recent decisions....

It’s not just Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia who are likely to die on the bench. Though those Supreme Court Justices are over 80, they’ve both steadfastly refused to consider retirement. They’ve got company. Many federal judges plan on hanging on to that gavel right to the end. Since federal judges are appointed for life and must be impeached by Congress to be removed, their careers can last well into their twilight years....

An online petition is under way to goad Ben and Jerry’s into making a Ruth Bader Ginsburg-themed ice cream. Of course, all the petition says is that the flavor will be “Ruth Bader Ginger,” but doesn’t go into the details of what would be in such an ice cream. Probably something to do with gingerbread pieces. This got us to thinking: Why not an ice cream for other Supreme Court justices?...

A Court of Appeals in Texas’ 14th Circuit says, no. Attorney Chris Ainsworth was present to answer the trial court’s pretrial conference docket call at 9 a.m. on August 23, 2018. Thirty minutes passed, and Ainsworth informed opposing counsel and the court coordinator that he needed to use the restroom. Four minutes later, the trial court called his client’s case – but Ainsworth had not returned. For reasons not delved into by the trial court, Ainsworth’s client had not yet arrived for the pretrial conference....

On May 13, 2022, a Los Angeles judge struck down a 2019 California law requiring a certain number of women on corporate boards. Citing California’s equal protection clause, the judge ruled that the “women on boards” law violated men’s constitutional rights. What Is the ‘Women on Boards’ Law? The law, adopted in 2019, required publicly traded corporations with a “principal executive office” in California to have at least one female member on their boards of directors by December 31, 2019....

Kim Kardashian is already regarded by many to be the First Lady of the internet. But what if she were FLOTUS? Her husband, the rapper Kanye West, recently declared his intent to run for president in the 2020 election. But is it too late for Kanye to join — and shake up — the race? POTUS Qualifications Checklist The U.S. Constitution states that a president must be at least 35 years old, be a natural-born U....

In US v. Dunson, No. 08-1691, the Seventh Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s imposition of a 110-month sentence upon a defendant for his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Although the defendant was not sentenced as an armed career criminal, the Seventh Circuit interprets “violent felony” as used in section 2K2.1 the same way as “crime of violence” in section 924(e), therefore, defendant’s sentence and conviction are affirmed as his prior conviction for fleeing a police officer in a vehicle is a crime of violence....

When it comes to its COVID-19 rules, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now zero for three. First, a federal court struck down its rules for cruise ships. Then the Supreme Court threw out its COVID-19 eviction moratorium. And on April 18, a Florida federal judge struck down its mask mandate for planes and public transportation. Let’s take a look at what the mask decision means for travelers. Do we still need to wear masks?...

The Supreme Court expanded the reach yesterday of a federal law that prevents domestic abusers from owning a gun. In Voisine v. United States, the Court held six to two that federal laws prohibiting gun ownership to those convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of violence” extend to those where the violence was merely reckless, as opposed to intentional. The ruling reconciles the federal law, which requires a showing of violence, with state criminal laws that require no such showing....

President Trump has won a small court victory in his ongoing attempt at Section 230 reform. Section 230 protects social media companies from liability when they remove offensive content. Despite the win, however, it appears that President Trump will not have been able to make significant changes to Section 230 during his term. The Trump administration’s Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship, issued last May after Twitter began including fact checks on the President’s tweets, started the process for federal agencies to re-examine Section 230....

If you are looking for family planning services and have limited access to medical providers, you may end up at a clinic funded at least in part by Title X. Title X federal grants help clinics provide low-income Americans with reproductive planning, HIV and STD prevention, cancer screenings, and other services. Whether those services may include mentioning clinics that provide abortions was the subject of a recent notable case out of the Ninth Circuit....