U.S. v. Taylor: Attempted Hobbs Act robbery not a “crime of violence” under ACCA

Attempted Hobbs Act robbery is not a “crime of violence” under the Armed Career Criminal Act, so cannot enhance sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court held June 21 in United States v. Taylor.   Justin Taylor was involved in a robbery […]

Shoop v. Twyford: Federal courts cannot issue transportation orders for testing unless the evidence from the tests would be legally admissible

District courts cannot issue transportation orders to enable habeas petitioners to obtain medical tests for their case, unless the petitioners first show that the evidence they hope to find will be admissible, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 21 in […]

Denezpi v. U.S.: Double Jeopardy’s dual-Sovereignty doctrine doesn’t prohibit same sovereign from prosecuting same conduct under Native American and federal law

Double Jeopardy’s dual sovereignty doctrine doesn’t prohibit the same sovereign — here, the federal government – from prosecuting a defendant under both Native American and federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court held June 13 in Denezpi v. United States.   […]

Kemp v. U.S.: Rule 60(b)(1) allows relief for error-of-law mistake

The term “mistake” in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 60(b)(1) includes a judge’s error of law, the U.S. Supreme Court held June 13 in Kemp v. United States.   A party may seek relief from a final judgment based […]

Supreme Court limits bond hearing rights for noncitizens in removal proceedings

The Supreme Court limited noncitizens’ right to bond hearings in removal proceedings in two cases decided June 13.   In Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez, the Court held that Section 1231(a)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) does not require the […]

Plaintiffs cannot bring “Bivens actions” for damages for Fourth Amendment violations at the U.S. border, or for First Amendment retaliation, the U.S. Supreme Court held June 8 in Egbert v. Boule.

Plaintiffs cannot bring “Bivens actions” for damages for Fourth Amendment violations at the U.S. border, or for First Amendment retaliation, the U.S. Supreme Court held June 8 in Egbert v. Boule.    The Court suggested that Bivens itself should be overruled in a future […]

Patel v. Garland: Courts cannot review factual findings denying discretionary relief from removal of noncitizens

Federal courts cannot review factual findings that underlie a denial of discretionary relief from removal of noncitizens, the U.S. Supreme Court held May 16 in Patel v. Garland.   Pankajkumar Patel entered the U.S. illegally in the 1990s.  In 2007, he applied […]

Thompson v. Clark: Malicious prosecution claim does not require showing prior prosecution was dismissed due to innocence

A plaintiff alleging a claim for malicious prosecution need only show his prior prosecution ended without a conviction, in order to satisfy the favorable termination element for such claims, the U.S. Supreme Court held April 4 in Thompson v. Clark.   […]

Brown v. Davenport: Federal habeas petitioners must satisfy both prejudice tests under Brecht and AEDPA

Federal habeas petitioners must satisfy the prejudice tests in both Brecht and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act in order to obtain relief, the U.S. Supreme Court held April 21 Brown v. Davenport. Satisfying just one test is not enough. […]

Wooden v. U.S.: Multiple convictions from single criminal episode do not trigger enhancement under ACCA

Multiple convictions arising from a single criminal episode do not trigger enhanced penalties under the Armed Career Criminal Act because the convictions did not occur on separate “occasions,” the U.S. Supreme Court ruled March 7 in Wooden v. United States.   […]