First Choice v. Davenport:  Nonprofit has standing to bring Sec. 1983 suit to block state subpoena of its donor list

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             A nonprofit organization has standing to bring a Sec. 1983 suit to enjoin a state Attorney General’s subpoena of its donor list, because this chills the organization’s First […]

District of Columbia v. R.W.:  Courts must consider all circumstances to determine “reasonable suspicion” for investigatory stop

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             Police had reasonable suspicion to make an investigatory stop of a juvenile driver who, at 2:00 a.m., kept backing up his car with a door open after two […]

Rico v. U.S.:  Supervised release term is not automatically extended when a person absconds

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             A term of supervised release under the Sentencing Reform Act is not automatically extended when the person being supervised absconds, the U.S. Supreme Court held March 25 in […]

Zorn v. Linton:  Officer who used wristlock to remove protester was entitled to qualified immunity from excessive force claim

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             An officer who lifted a seated protester by her arms behind her back was entitled to qualified immunity from an excessive force claim since no “clearly established” law […]

Olivier v. City of Brandon:  Sec. 1983 doesn’t bar people from seeking to enjoin future enforcement of same law under which they were convicted

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             Persons with criminal convictions can bring a Sec. 1983 action to enjoin future enforcement of the law under which they were convicted so long as they are seeking […]

Urias-Orellana v. Bondi:  Courts must apply “substantial evidence” standard when reviewing asylum claims based on persecution

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             Federal courts reviewing an asylum seeker’s claims of past or future persecution must uphold the agency’s determination if “substantial evidence” supports it, the U.S. Supreme Court held March […]

Villarreal v. Texas:  Judges can prohibit attorney-client discussion of content of defendant’s on-going testimony during overnight recess, but can’t limit other topics

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             When a trial recesses for the night in the middle of a defendant’s testimony, a judge can prohibit counsel from discussing the testimony’s content with the defendant, but […]

Social Workers in Public Defense: The Power of Our Work

By Dr. Lori James, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW-C, Executive Director of the National Association for Public Defense Every year during Social Work Month, I pause to reflect on the profession that shaped my life and my purpose. Social work, particularly within […]

Klein v. Martin: Supreme Court emphasizes, again, that federal habeas courts must defer to state courts

By Greg Mermelstein, Deputy Director & General Counsel, Missouri Public Defender             Federal courts must deny habeas relief to petitioners if the state courts reasonably decided their claims, even when the federal court “would have analyzed differently if they had […]

Time To Say No

The Public Defender of Marion County (“PDMC”) is a nonprofit public defense office, challenging the legality of Oregon’s case quota system. PDMC and its Executive Director, Shannon Wilson, brought the initial lawsuit against the Oregon Public Defense Commission (“OPDC”), the […]