Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed convictions under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, holding that binding precedent forecloses constitutional challenges regarding the Felonies Clause and nexus requirements. The court further ruled that recent Sentencing Guidelines amendments are substantive and do not apply retroactively to reduce sentences.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 42-month prison sentence for a federal inmate who stabbed a fellow prisoner with a shank, rejecting claims that the sentence was unreasonably high. The court held that the district judge properly weighed the statutory factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and the Guidelines' recommendation of ten to sixteen months against the defendant's violent conduct.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions of three defendants under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, holding that binding precedent forecloses constitutional challenges regarding the Felonies Clause and U.S. nexus requirements. The court further ruled that recent Sentencing Guidelines amendments are substantive rather than clarifying, precluding their retroactive application to alter the defendants' sentences.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Robert Walker's civil suit against judges, a law firm, and the Florida Bar for failure to state a claim. However, the court remanded the case to correct the procedural record, ordering that dismissals based on sovereign immunity be entered without prejudice to allow for potential refiling.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the conviction for possession of child pornography, holding that officers did not violate the Fourth Amendment when seizing a suspect's phone during a roadside stop. The court ruled that the stop was lawful under Terry v. Ohio, independent of the search warrant's execution.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a federal prisoner's motion to reopen as an unauthorized successive habeas petition. The court held that the filing sought relief on the merits and thus required pre-filing authorization under AEDPA.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed an upward variance sentence for illegal reentry, ruling that a defendant's ambiguous statements during allocution do not constitute a proper objection to presentence report facts under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32. Because the defendant failed to explicitly contest the alleged belligerent conduct, the district court was permitted to rely on those unchallenged facts to justify the sentence.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Don Eugene Nixon Jr.'s drug trafficking conviction and 720-month sentence, ruling that the district court did not commit plain error by omitting a specific voir dire question regarding gang bias. The court further held that the district court properly calculated the drug weight attributable to Nixon and that the sentence was reasonable under the statutory factors.
The Tenth Circuit denied a certificate of appealability and dismissed the appeal because the petitioner failed to demonstrate that jurists of reason would find the district court's ruling debatable. The court held that the petitioner lacked the required state custody to maintain a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
The Fourth Circuit held that the execution of a removal warrant by ICE after an EOIR final order is not a 'pending proceeding' under 18 U.S.C. § 1505. Consequently, the court vacated the defendant's conviction for obstructing immigration proceedings and remanded the case.
