Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Second Circuit affirmed Rickey Johnson's convictions for making threatening interstate communications and threatening United States officials. The court rejected Johnson's claims regarding jury composition, hearsay admission, and witness charges, finding any errors harmless or non-existent.
The Ninth Circuit vacated a defendant's sentence because the district court incorrectly applied a career offender enhancement based on a prior California assault conviction. The panel held that the assault statute criminalizes reckless conduct, which fails to meet the Supreme Court's mens rea requirements for a federal crime of violence.
The Second Circuit held that proceeding to trial without a competency inquiry was objectively unreasonable given the petitioner's cyclical history of incompetence. The court reversed the district court's denial of habeas relief and remanded with instructions to issue a conditional writ.
The Second Circuit dismissed the Republic of Sudan's interlocutory appeal, ruling that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's state-sponsored terrorism exception bars immediate appeals under the collateral-order doctrine. Because the district court did not certify the order for immediate appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), the appellate court lacks jurisdiction to review the immunity denial until the underlying litigation concludes.
The Second Circuit held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's appellate bar eliminates all interlocutory appeals under the collateral-order doctrine for actions brought under the state-sponsored terrorism exception. Consequently, the Republic of Sudan's immediate appeal challenging immunity denials was dismissed because the district court failed to certify the order for immediate review.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a felon-in-possession sentence, holding that the Sentencing Commission's commentary defining a large capacity magazine warrants judicial deference. The court ruled that the term is ambiguous and the Commission's interpretation of over fifteen rounds is reasonable.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Gail Manney's conviction for making false statements on a federal firearm purchase form, ruling that the Second Amendment does not protect the act of lying to a dealer. The court further held that such misrepresentations are legally material regardless of whether the actual purchaser is legally eligible to own a gun.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of Tahawwur Hussain Rana's habeas petition challenging his extradition to India. The court held that the extradition treaty's double jeopardy exception applies to charged crimes with distinct elements, not underlying acts, allowing extradition despite Rana's prior U.S. acquittal.
The D.C. Circuit held that the Fourth Amendment requires the continued retention of personal property seized incident to a lawful arrest to remain reasonable, even after the arrestee has been released. The court reversed the district court's dismissal of claims alleging that the District of Columbia unreasonably retained plaintiffs' property for months or years without justification.
The D.C. Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the FBI, holding its search for Freedom of Information Act records was adequate and its withholdings justified. The court rejected the appellant's challenges to the search methodology and his claims of agency misconduct due to a lack of evidentiary support.
