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U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments to Resolve Circuit Conflicts by David Kim On April 30, 2025, the United States Sentencing Commission submitted amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines to Congress, set to take effect on November 1, 2025, absent congressional action. These amendments address two significant circuit court conflicts …
Maryland Reforms Offer Second Chances on Expungement and Parole by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed a suite of reform bills into law on April 22, 2025, marking a victory for incarcerated individuals, the formerly incarcerated, and advocates who have worked tirelessly for these …
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 by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The California Court of Appeal, Sixth District, held that defendants are …
Hawai’i Supreme Court Reverses Murder Conviction for Prosecutorial Misconduct Based on Prosecution’s Improper Statements During Closing Arguments by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The Supreme Court of Hawai’i reversed a murder conviction for prosecutorial misconduct where a deputy prosecutor described the defendant as a liar and inserted personal opinions concerning …
Article • April 15, 2024 • from CLN April, 2024
New York Governor Signs Law Sealing Millions of Criminal Records From Public View by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In late 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act into law, permitting millions of criminal convictions to be sealed. “With the signing of this law, it adds …
Federal Sentencing Guidelines Undergo Substantial Amendments by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The United States Sentencing Commission (“Commission”) adopted nine amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”) that became effective on November 1, 2023. It’s the first action by the Commission since it lost a quorum in early 2019. …
West Virginia Supreme Court Announces in the Absence of a Deadline, Trial Court Must Permit Defendant to Stipule to Prior Conviction During Trial by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held that, where a trial court has not set a deadline for submitting …
Article • August 1, 2023 • from CLN August, 2023
Mississippi Supreme Court: Court of Appeals Improperly Permitted State to Supplement Record on Appeal in Reviewing Habitual Offender Determination by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Mississippi, sitting en banc, held that the Court of Appeals (“COA”) improperly permitted the State to add to the record on …
Study Finds DNA Similarities Among Look-alikes by Eike Blohm, MD by Eike Blohm, MD A recently published study shows that “doppelgängers” — unrelated strangers who look eerily similar — don’t just share looks; they have similar DNA. The advent of social media and ubiquitous cellphone cameras has resulted in some …
Article • September 15, 2022 • from CLN October, 2022
California Court of Appeal: Defendant’s ‘Novel Interpretation’ of Pen. Code § 1203.01 Entitles Him to Have Trial Court Consider Motion to Correct Post-Judgment Record 40 Years After Conviction Final by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District, ruled that Glenn Douglas Crites was …
Article • August 15, 2022 • from CLN September, 2022
How Many Federal Crimes Are There? by Casey Bastian Nobody Knows for Sure by Casey J. Bastian If you were asked to identify the exact number of acts that are considered a federal “crime” in the U.S., could you do it? The answer is almost certainly no. No one, not …
The Right to be Forgotten by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Success in having a court record expunged may shroud it from public records disclosure, but where one lives determines if there is a right to be forgotten. Some states have automatic expungement laws, but the right to be …
Publication • 2022
University of Pennsylvania-Decarceration's Inside Partners, March 2022 PennLaw UNIVERSITY of PEN SYLVANIA CAREY LAW SCHOOL Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series Research Paper No. 22-24 Decarceration’s Inside Partners Seema Saifee UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CAREY LAW SCHOOL This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Science Research …
Iowa Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Where Prosecutor Allowed to Amend Trial Information at Trial to Charge a ‘Wholly New and Different Offense’ by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Supreme Court of Iowa reversed a conviction where the trial court allowed the prosecutor to amend an information at trial …
Article • February 15, 2021 • from CLN March, 2021
California Court of Appeal: SB 136 Makes Plea Agreement Containing Prior Prison Enhancement Unenforceable by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Division Five of the First Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal held that Senate Bill No. 136 (“SB 136”) made unenforceable a plea agreement that contained a one-year …
New Michigan Law Expands Criminal Records Expungement by Casey Bastian by Casey Bastian Having a criminal record, for even minor offenses, can make it very difficult to obtain housing, employment, or education and vocational training. In an effort to alleviate some of these difficulties, lawmakers in Michigan have passed bipartisan …
Article • December 15, 2020 • from CLN January, 2021
Illinois Law Firm Offers Web Application to Help Automate Expungement by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Legal Aid Chicago and Chapman and Cutler LLP launched a web application to help expedite the process of clearing criminal records of offenses that are eligible for expungement and sealing. The Legal Aid Chicago …
Article • November 15, 2020 • from CLN December, 2020
Seventh Circuit: Prior Conviction Under Overbroad State Drug Statute May Be Used in Career Criminal Enhancement But Not For Prior Drug Crimes Enhancement by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On July 20, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a prior state drug conviction under …
Article • October 15, 2020 • from CLN November, 2020
Ninth Circuit: Use of Unconvicted Conduct Too Dissimilar to Charged Offense Violates Due Process by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the use of unconvicted criminal conduct that was too dissimilar to the charged offense to obtain a conviction violates …
Article • October 15, 2020 • from CLN November, 2020
Idaho Supreme Court Announces False Rape Allegations May Be Admitted Regardless of When Made by Anthony Accurso by Anthony Accurso The Supreme Court of Idaho clarified the rule of evidence regarding the admissibility of prior false allegations of rape made by victims, announced a three-part test to assess the admissibility …
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