It’s been said that a prosecutor could convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, and this case proves that a cop could similarly convince a judge to grant a search warrant without any probable cause. Thankfully, a federal judge put a stop to it, although a bit too late. The Cops Came Knocking…
Federal Prison Newsletter, Week Ending Apr 28, 2023 Elijah v. Dunbar, No. 21-7352, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 9592 (4th Cir. Apr. 21, 2023) Objections to R&R Don’t Have to Be Overly Precise to be Sufficient for De Novo Review Petitioner filed a habeas petition and claimed that the BOP was refusing to apply First Step…
Whether a nude image of a minor is considered illegal depends on whether it’s “obscene.” But what does that mean? For decades, what has amounted to obscenity has never been clearly established by the courts. The Supreme Court did set some guidelines for obscenity cases – 50 years ago – but it still left the…
Otober 21, 2022: Doe v. Swearingen, No. 21-10644 (11th Cir.) Reviving a lawsuit against Florida’s sex offender registry, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (overseeing the federal courts in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia) held on Friday that the federal district court in the Southern District of Florida’s dismissal of the lawsuit as…
Chester County Court Judge Allison Bell Royer held on August 22, 2022, that Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry laws were unconstitutional, after a remand from the state supreme court. Here’s a snippet from the opinion on why: Based on the evidence of scientific and academic consensus presented, we find that [Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry laws] do…
The biggest mistake I see sex offenders make in prison is trying to be something they`re not: a non-sex offender. If there`s one thing that`ll lead to immediate threats of harm, it`s trying to fit in with a group in prison you don`t belong to by hiding your charges. The problem is that the truth…
The court of appeals impermissibly “expanded” the reach of the state`s incest statute, the Michigan Supreme Court held on June 10, 2022, which in effect created a new offense that did not match the elements of the offense charged. As a result, the Court allowed the defendant to withdraw his plea on appeal. John Moss…
Everyone in prison must work. Staff calls it “programming” and if someone refuses to work they get written up for “refusing to program.” In reality, it`s the prisoners that keep a prison running. They do everything from maintenance to plumbing to electrical work to laundry to food service, and so on. When the prisons went…
Tracking the numbers of federal child pornography convictions across the country isn`t easy. Federal prosecutors are given broad discretion in what charges to bring (or not bring), and what charges to drop in order to induce a guilty plea. They also control, to an extent, the final sentence by the type of charges they file….
