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Arkansas Supreme Court: Unborn Child Not a ‘Person’ Under Sentencing Enhancement Scheme
by Anthony Accurso
In an opinion delivered December 10, 2020, the Supreme Court of Arkansas held that the definition of a “person” used for aggravating factors at sentencing does not include an unborn child.
On December 3, 2015, Brad Hunter Smith and two accomplices lured Cherrish Allbright to a field, ...
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More from this issue:
- No-Knock Warrants Leave Trail of Terror, Property Damage, and Deaths, by David Reutter
- A Primer on Overcriminalization, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Vacates Habeas Denial, Remands to Determine Whether ‘Martinez Exception’ Excused Procedural Default by State Prisoner, by Dale Chappell
- Seventh Circuit: Federal Habeas Relief for State Prisoner Due to Counsel’s Failure to Raise No-Causation Defense, by Dale Chappell
- Federal Habeas Corpus: Filing Procedures, by Dale Chappell
- The Parole App Trap, by Jayson Hawkins
- Fourth Circuit: Police Request for ID Outside Valid Terry Stop Unconstitutional, by Anthony Accurso
- Seventh Circuit Vacates Sentence Where District Court Improperly Imposed Leadership Enhancement, by Douglas Ankney
- New Jersey Police Union Contracts Laden With Financial Largesse, by Casey Bastian
- D.C. Circuit Highlights Racial Disparity Concerns With First Step Act After District Court Erroneously Denies Relief, by Dale Chappell
- D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences Firearms Examination Unit Under Fire, by Derek Gilna
- Seventh Circuit Exercises Supervisory Powers in Reversing District Court’s Judgment Revoking Supervised Release, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit: District Court Retains Jurisdiction When Habeas Petitioner Moves to Prison Outside of District, by Dale Chappell
- Iowa Supreme Court Announces Brady Standard Applies to Motion for New Trial Based on Withheld Exculpatory Medical Records, by Douglas Ankney
- Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws Prompts Class Action Lawsuit, by Casey Bastian
- Michigan State Police Reverse on Use of Messaging App That Can Evade FOIA Requests, by Douglas Ankney
- Tech Company Enables Surveillance, by Jayson Hawkins
- Wyoming Supreme Court: District Court Abused Discretion by Granting State’s Dismissal of Charges Without Prejudice and Refiling to Gain Tactical Advantage, Remands for Dismissal With Prejudice, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit: Employment Restriction for Supervised Release Overbroad and Impermissible Delegation of Power to Probation, by Dale Chappell
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Good Faith Exception Inapplicable to Unsworn Search Warrant, by Anthony Accurso
- Arkansas Supreme Court: Unborn Child Not a ‘Person’ Under Sentencing Enhancement Scheme, by Anthony Accurso
- New Jersey Appellate Court Holds Defendant Entitled to Source Code of Novel Probabilistic Genotyping Software Upon Showing of Particularized Need, by Douglas Ankney
- Orwellian Fusion Centers Are Watching You, by Casey Bastian
- Utah Supreme Court: Appeal of Plea in Justice Court Doesn’t Vacate Judgment, by David Reutter
- California Court of Appeal: Prisoners Are Not Required to Serve ‘Thompson Terms’ After Grant of Parole Under Elderly Parole Program, by Douglas Ankney
- North Carolina Supreme Court Reverses Embezzlement Convictions for Failure to Hold Competency Hearing After Mid-Trial Suicide Attempt, Involuntary Commitment, by Matthew Clarke
- New York Court of Appeals Rejects Federal Jurisprudence Allowing Searches of Vehicles Based on Warrants Authorizing Searches of ‘Premises’, by Douglas Ankney
- Surveillance and the City, by Jayson Hawkins
- Fifth Circuit: Anonymous Tip Didn’t Provide Reasonable Suspicion to Conduct Investigatory Stop, by Douglas Ankney
- Ohio Supreme Court: Imposing Two Punishments for One Quantity of Mixture of Heroin and Fentanyl Violates Double Jeopardy, by Douglas Ankney
- Illinois Study: Crime Rate not Tied to Prison Population Levels, by Kevin Bliss
- Ninth Circuit: State’s Forced Medication Order Was Properly Challenged Under Federal Habeas Corpus, by Dale Chappell
- Tracking Browser History, by Jayson Hawkins
- Ninth Circuit Announces Police Inserting Key in Car Door to Determine Vehicle Ownership Constitutes Search Overruling Circuit Precedent, by Anthony Accurso
- All Bark but No Bite, by Douglas Ankney
- Socially Unacceptable New York Cops, by Edward Lyon
- News in Brief
- New Jersey Supreme Court Announces Adoption of Framework for Evaluating Discovery Motions Challenging Warrant Affidavits Based on Unidentified Confidential Informants, by Douglas Ankney
More from Anthony Accurso:
- Fifth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to Louisiana Officials Who Forced Prisoner to Work with Broken Surgical Screws in Ankle, May 1, 2025
- Studies Link Incarceration with Lower Cancer Survival Rates—For Prisoner’s Partners, Too, May 1, 2025
- ACLU Sues BOP Over Failure to Implement First Step Act Release Credits, May 1, 2025
- Federal Government Circumventing Fourth Amendment by Buying Data From Data Brokers, April 15, 2025
- Crowdsourcing a Map to Track License Plate Surveillance, April 15, 2025
- D.C. Police Continue Heavy Investment in Social Media Monitoring, April 15, 2025
- $7.15 Million for Oklahoma Prisoner Exonerated After Nearly 50 Years, April 1, 2025
- North Carolina Reimburses Prisoner $2,500 for Law Books Destroyed by Guards, April 1, 2025
- Ninth Circuit: No Exception to Due Diligence in Discovery Even for “Conclusive Evidence”, April 1, 2025
- $250,000 Settlement But No Charges After Alabama Guards Beat Prisoner To Death, April 1, 2025
More from these topics:
- Fourth Circuit: District Court Erred in Imposing ‘Managerial Role’ Enhancement Under Guidelines § 3B1.1(b) Without Making ‘Particularized Findings’ Regarding Scope of Criminal Activity and Number of Participants as Required by Guidelines §1B1.1, April 15, 2025. Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Joint Participant, Scope/Standard of Review.
- Fifth Circuit Announces Definition of ‘Controlled Substance’ in Effect at Time of Current Sentencing Applies for Purposes of Career-Offender Enhancement, Not Definition at Time of Prior Sentencings, March 15, 2025. Controlled Substances, Career Offenders, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- California Court of Appeal Vacates Sentence Where Trial Court Imposed Sentence Under ‘One Strike’ Enhancement Statute Enacted After Crimes Were Committed, March 15, 2025. Battered Child/Spouse Evidence, Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Exploitation.
- Philadelphia Agrees to $9.1 Million Settlement for Wrongful Murder Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025. Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Murder/Felony Murder.
- California Court of Appeal: Evidence Insufficient to Show Robbery Victim Moved ‘Substantial Distance’ to Support Simple Kidnapping Conviction and Amendments to § 186.22 Require Vacatur of Gang Enhancements, Feb. 15, 2025. Prison Gangs, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Insufficiency of the Evidence, Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Gang Membership.
- California Court of Appeal Announces Defendants May Obtain Brady Evidence From Police Officers’ Personnel Files in Advance of § 1172.6 Hearing Requesting Vacatur of Conviction and Resentencing for Certain Types of Murder Convictions, Feb. 15, 2025. Disclosure of Records, Police, Brady Violations, Murder/Felony Murder, Resentencing, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration, Evidence - Admissibility.
- California Court of Appeal Announces Equal Protection Entitles Youth Offenders Convicted of Special Circumstances Murder Predicated on Robbery or Burglary to Franklin and Parole Hearings Under Cal. Penal Code § 3051, Feb. 15, 2025. Equal Protection Clause/Claims, Murder/Felony Murder, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
- California Court of Appeal Strikes Prison Prior Enhancement for Invalid Predicate Offense Under § 1172.75 Despite Concurrently Served Valid Predicate, Feb. 1, 2025. Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Predicate Acts/Offenses, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences.
- Ninth Circuit Announces California Assault With Deadly Weapon Conviction Not ‘Crime of Violence’ for Career Offender Enhancement Under Sentencing Guidelines, Feb. 1, 2025. Career Offenders, Gun Laws/Crimes, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- Vermont Supreme Court Eliminates Year-and-a-Day Rule in Murder Prosecutions, Feb. 1, 2025. Prison/Jail Murders, Murder/Felony Murder, Pre-Trial Motions.