On March 5, 2018, the Supreme Court decided U.S. Bank N.A. v. Village at Lakeridge, USSC No. 15-1509, 2018 WL 1143822, a bankruptcy case that we note here solely because it addresses a narrow issue that can matter to appellate litigators, civil and criminal: What is the standard of appellate review of mixed questions of law and… Read more
44. SCOTUS
Rodney Class v. United States, USSC No. 16-424, 2018 WL 987347 (February 21, 2018), reversing United States v. Class, (unreported) (D.C. Cir. 2016); Scotusblog page (inlcuding links to briefs and commentary) “The question [in this case] is whether a guilty plea by itself bars a federal criminal defendant from challenging the constitutionality of the statute of conviction… Read more
District of Columbia v. Wesby, USSC No. 15-1485, 2017 WL 491521 (January 22, 2018), reversing Wesby v. District of Columbia, 765 F.3d 13 (D.C. Cir. 2014); Scotusblog page (including links to briefs and commentary) The probable-cause determination in this case is quite fact-specific, and the qualified immunity issue is of little interest to criminal practitioners… Read more
Hughes v. United States, USSC No. 17-155, certiorari granted 12/8/12 Questions presented: 1. Whether this Court’s decision in Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188 (1977), means that the concurring opinion in a 4-1-4 decision represents the holding of the Court where neither the plurality’s reasoning nor the concurrence’s reasoning is a logical subset of… Read more
At least three justices of the Supreme Court of the United states think so. The three (Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Kagan) dissented from the court’s denial of certiorari in Reeves v. Alabama last week. Reeves had challenged his death sentence on the ground that his counsel had been ineffective in investigating and presenting potential mitigation evidence. He… Read more
Currier v. Virginia, USSC No. 16-1348, certiorari granted 10/16/17 Question presented: Whether a defendant who consents to severance of multiple charges into sequential trials loses his right under the double jeopardy clause to the issue-preclusive effect of an acquittal. Lower court decision: State v. Currier, 779 S.E.2d 834 (Va. App. 2015), reasoning adopted by 292 Va. 737 (Va… Read more
Dahda v. United States, USSC No. 17-43, certiorari granted 10/16/17 Question presented: Whether Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510–2520, requires suppression of evidence obtained pursuant to a wiretap order that is facially insufficient because the order exceeds the judge’s territorial jurisdiction. Lower court decision… Read more
United States v. Microsoft Corp., USSC No. 17-2, certiorari granted 10/16/17 Question presented: Whether a United States provider of email services must comply with a probable-cause-based warrant issued under 18 U.S.C. § 2703 by making disclosure in the United States of electronic communications within that provider’s control, even if the provider has decided to store… Read more
