Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a federal sentence that included a career-offender enhancement based on prior Delaware drug convictions. The court held that the state statutes punished completed deliveries, even when those deliveries involved attempted transfers.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a sixty-six-month sentence for a felon in possession of a firearm and upheld revocations of supervised release. The court remanded two related appeals to correct a clerical error in the judgment that listed violations not found by the district court.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a conviction for illegal reentry after deportation. The court found no clear and obvious error in the district court's handling of the defendant's guilty plea.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a sentence imposed after the mandatory revocation of supervised release. The court held that the district court did not plainly err by considering the need to promote respect for the law as a dominant sentencing factor.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a conviction for illegal reentry under federal law. The court held that the defendant's constitutional challenge to the recidivism enhancement was foreclosed by existing Supreme Court precedent.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a substantive reasonableness challenge to a defendant's sentence for child pornography offenses. The court held that the district court properly weighed sentencing factors and did not abuse its discretion in imposing a downward variance.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of a motion to dismiss an indictment against a defendant charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court held that the defendant failed to meet his burden of proving he was not dangerous under the Second Amendment as-applied challenge.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a seventy-month prison sentence for a felon in possession of a firearm. The court found the district court acted within its discretion in calculating sentencing guidelines and weighing statutory factors.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a conviction for possessing a short-barreled rifle and receiving ammunition while under felony indictment. The court held that the district court properly struck closing arguments suggesting police return of firearms justified acquittal regardless of the defendant's knowledge.
The Fifth Circuit granted a pro se plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis and vacated a dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The court remanded the case to the district court to consider whether the plaintiff should be permitted to amend his complaint.
