Congratulations to a Knox Defense Attorney for his significant sentencing victory yesterday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga. A Knox Defense Attorney had a client who had been convicted of possession of two firearms while being a convicted felon. The issue at sentencing was whether his sentence […]
People often do not realize the severe effects that a non-violent felony conviction can have on their lives. As the pictured chart shows, the collateral effects are far-reaching. There are certain businesses and occupations you can no longer pursue. A lot of companies will not hire you. You can’t get a lot government benefits, loans, […]
The 2017 projected murder rates should be 2.5% lower than last year. Significantly in some large cities known for crime, there has been a considerable decrease. In Detroit, it is expected to be down 25.6%. In Houston, 20.5%, and in New York, down 19.1%. Even Chicago’s murder rate is expected to fall by 2.4%. On […]
The United States Sentencing Commission released a report this morning on clemencies granted by President Obama to federal prisoners. President Obama made 1,928 grants of clemency during his presidency, of which 1,716 were commutations of sentence. Those were more commutations than any other president has granted. Those who received commutations of sentences were serving lengthy […]
The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments this fall in the case of Christie v The National Collegiate Athletic Association as to whether sports betting should be left up to the states or should remain illegal in every state except for Nevada. In 1992, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Professional […]
The concept of fairness has been an integral part of our legal system since at least the year 1215. During that time, over 800 years ago, the Magna Carta was signed and gave to all Englishmen (and then consequently to all Americans) the right of due process of law. The very foundation of due process […]
The United States Sentencing Commission has released its drug trafficking statistics for 2016. Which of the following drugs would you think commands the greatest number of prosecutions from the federal government? Heroin? Oxycodone? Methamphetamines? Powder cocaine? Crack cocaine? The drug that is number one on this list is methamphetamine. There were 6,460 offenders in the […]
The United States Supreme Court in Batson v Kentucky held that prosecutors cannot exclude potential jurors because of race. The law after that decision held that neither can the defense. Jurors cannot be excluded either because of gender or religion. If a party demonstrates a pattern of exclusion in such categories the court should demand […]
Several people, including two young children, an American military veteran, and a retired football player, all of whom are medical marijuana patients, have filed a suit against the Department of Justice in federal court in New York city. They allege that they have been discriminated against by the Federal Controlled Substances Act. They claim that […]
OJ Simpson, who is now 70 years old, is expected to be paroled on Thursday after 9 years in prison. He could be released October 1st if granted parole. Those in the know say that he has served his minimum sentence of 9 years and that in parole in Nevada is based almost entirely on […]
