Blogs

A protocol was recently released by the Joint Electronic Technology Working Group that sets forth best practices for the efficient and cost-effective management of post-indictment discovery of electronically stored information -- otherwise known as ESI.  These recommendations include a framework for the handling of digitized or electronic discovery in a federal criminal case.  Because of the prevalence of ESI discovery in many federal criminal cases, the protocol is a must-read for all practitioners in federal criminal cases. To read the full ESI Protocol, please see Law - Discovery.

On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court expanded its jurisprudence in the area of sentencing law applicable to juveniles by holding that mandatory terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.  To see the Court's full opinion, please see our link under Law – Case Law – US Supreme Court.

On June 21, 2012, the Supreme Court, in the jointly argued cases of Dorsey v. United States and Hill v. United States

On May 8, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit remanded for resentencing the case of United States v. Jackson because of the new sentencing guidelines promulgated as a result of the Fair Sentencing Act, which President Obama signed into law on August 3, 2010. The opinion for the first time clarifies that defendants who meet career offender criteria can nevertheless benefit from the lower sentencing ranges embodied in the new sentencing guidelines.  To read more about this, please see our link under Law – Case Law – Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On April 2, 2012, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington in which it examined the constitutional limitations on searches conducted by corrections officers of new inmates at a jail or prison. In Florence, the Court affirmed earlier case law in which it held that corrections officers are permitted to devise reasonable search policies to detect and deter the possession of contraband in correctional facilities.