by Punch & Jurists

In Chua, District Judge Jack Weinstein of the E.D.N.Y. addressed what he called “an important constitutional Issue” — namely, “whether a defendant may, in effect, be forced by the government to waive, as part of a plea agreement, his or her constitutional right to ...

by Punch & Jurists

In Bey, District Judge Mark Kearney of the E.D.Pa., presented a timely review of a the growing reluctance of many Federal judges to a hardline approach in the rapidly escalating conflict between state laws (many of which authorize the use of medical marijuana) and Federal ...

By Punch & Jurists

In a rare reversal of a witness tampering conviction, the Sixth Circuit, in Lobbins, held that the district court had given an erroneous jury instruction that misstated an essential element of the witness-tampering charge and that trial counsel had been ineffective when he failed ...

by Punch & Jurists

In Abu-Shawish, the Seventh Circuit addressed a little known and little used Federal proceeding that gives people who have been unjustly convicted and imprisoned for a Federal crime a damage remedy against the United States. Here, after the Court’s recitation of the colorful history of ...