Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Fifth Circuit dismissed Jason Wayne McBride's appeal as frivolous because he sought free copies of court records while no habeas proceeding was pending. The court clarified that 28 U.S.C. § 2250 only authorizes free copies when a live action is active, but prisoners may still purchase records by contacting the clerk.
The Fifth Circuit dismissed Daniel Thomason Smith's appeal as frivolous because he had not yet served the ten-year minimum sentence required for compassionate release under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(b)(6). The court further held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying relief based on the nature of the offenses and the defendant's criminal history.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion by the Federal Public Defender to withdraw from representing the defendant. The court dismissed the appeal after finding no nonfrivolous issues for review.
The Eleventh Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw from representing the appellant in a direct criminal appeal. The court affirmed the district court's denial of the defendant's motion for sentence reduction under the compassionate release statute.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed a habeas appeal because the petitioner filed his notice of appeal before the district court adopted the magistrate judge's report and recommendation. The court held that a magistrate's recommendation is not a final order until adopted, and a subsequent adoption cannot cure a premature filing.
The Third Circuit denied William Kaetz's petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to overturn rulings in his federal habeas corpus proceeding. The court characterized Kaetz's arguments as frivolous and clarified that mandamus cannot be used as a substitute for the regular appellate process.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a forty-month sentence for transporting aliens, rejecting claims that the district court failed to properly apply the advisory Sentencing Guidelines. The court held that the judge adequately explained the upward variance and considered statutory factors without committing procedural error.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Ronald Shaw's appeal because he failed to obtain a required certificate of appealability. The court found that Shaw did not make a substantial showing that the district court's denial of his habeas motion was debatable or wrong.
The D.C. Circuit vacated Calvin Smith's life sentences for drug conspiracy and racketeering, finding the drug sentence exceeded statutory limits and the racketeering sentence lacked required factual findings. The court also vacated a felony murder conviction on double jeopardy grounds and remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing.
The Fourth Circuit held that individuals maintain a reasonable expectation of privacy in files stored in private cloud-based accounts, requiring law enforcement to obtain a warrant before searching them. Although the court found the warrantless search of the defendant's Google Drive files unconstitutional, it affirmed the conviction because the evidence was sufficiently attenuated from the illegal search.
