State v. Aman D. Singh, 2015AP850-CR, District 4, 1/7/16 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity
Singh, appealing pro se, seeks to reverse a twelve-year-old OWI-second conviction for which his sentence is long over. [continue reading…]
Winnebago County v. Christopher S., 2016 WI 1, on certification from the court of appeals, and affirming the circuit court’s orders for commitment and involuntary medication; majority opinion by Justice Gableman, concurrence/dissent by Justice Abrahamson; case activity
The provisions of ch. 51 allowing the involuntary mental health commitment of prison inmates without a finding of dangerousness does not violate substantive due process because the statute’s provisions are reasonably related to a legitimate state interest. [continue reading…]
Bernard McKinley v. Kim Butler, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Case No. 14-1944, 1/4/16
McKinley failed to raise an Eighth Amendment claim in his state court challenges to the sentence he received for a murder he committed at the age of 16. That means he procedurally defaulted the claim for purposes of his federal habeas challenge to the sentence. But instead of affirming the district court’s dismissal of McKinley’s habeas petition, a majority of this Seventh Circuit panel stays the habeas proceeding and, based on reasoning that could be useful to other juveniles seeking to challenge long sentences, gives McKinley a chance to go back to state court to challenge his sentence under Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012). [continue reading…]
If you haven’t heard, on December 18th Netflix released a new documentary series called Making a Murderer. The first season (10 one-hour parts) recounts the riveting story of Wisconsin’s own Steven Avery, a man who was imprisoned for sexual assault and attempted murder, and who was later exonerated. He filed a $36 million lawsuit against Manitowoc County and then found himself accused of a murder there. On Point fans will recognize most, maybe all, of the lawyers in the documentary’s cast: Steve Glynn, Walt Kelly, Mike Griesbach, Reesa Evans, Rob Henak, Dean Strang, Jerry Buting, and former DA Ken Kratz--to name a few. Public Defenders Suzanne Hagopian and Martha Askins make cameo appearances in the film. [continue reading…]
Public records have been in the press a lot lately. Think transitory records like, texts, emails or Facebook messages. Often it’s a court that decides whether or not Wisconsin’s public records law allows access to such information. In an interesting twist, a few of the final arbiters of the law–Wisconsin’s Supreme Court justices–recently received open records requests. According to the Journal Sentinel, the recipients have been slow to respond. This prompted SCOWstats to investigate how justices themselves vote on open records requests. Click here for the results. They’re not quite what you expect!
Gregory Jean-Paul v. Timonty Douma, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals No. 14-3088, 12/31/15
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals reasonably concluded that Jean-Paul validly waived his right to appellate counsel based on the waiver form he signed and his correspondence with his appellate lawyer. [continue reading…]
United States v. Antonio West, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Case No. 14-2514, 12/30/15
The trial court erroneously excluded expert evidence that West sought to admit regarding factors that made him susceptible to making an unreliable confession to a crime. [continue reading…]
Tempest Horsley v. Jessica Trame, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Case No. 14-2846, 12/14/15
Illinois law requires a person over the age of 18 but under the age of 21 to get a parent’s or guardian signature on an application for a firearm owner’s identification (FOID) card, which is generally necessary to lawfully possess or acquire a firearm. The Seventh Circuit rejects the challenge an 18-year-old brought against the law under the Second Amendment and District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008). [continue reading…]
