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Supreme Court Jolt

“It is a jolt to the legal system when you overrule a precedent.” Chief Justice Roberts at his 2005 confirmation hearings

Overturning its own precedents the Supreme Court yesterday removed limits on corporate campaign spending citing the First Amendment free speech rights of corporations.

In his dissent Justice Stevens wrote “Under the majority’s view, I suppose it may be a First Amendment problem that corporations are not permitted to vote, given that voting is, among other things, a form of speech.”

Dahlia Lithwick has the story here.

Drawing of the Week

The winning drawing of the week didn't make it to broadcast.  It is a sketch of defense attorney Steven Kupferberg from Thursday's McKenzie-Gude sentencing "mini-trial" done in anticipation of his cross-examination of the star witness, Patrick Yevsukov, but court adjourned for the day before Kupferberg had a shot at the witness.

The Week in Review

On Tuesday the Supreme Court heard arguments in U.S. v. Comstock on whether the Federal government can authorize the civil commitment of sexual predators. WaPo story here.

On Wednesday Gregg Levy, an attorney representing the NFL was trying to persuade the Justices that his client should be considered a "single entity"- not a collection of 32 teams - and therefore not subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act. Dahlia Lithwick has the story here.

Thursday saw a sentencing hearing for 20 year-old Collin McKenzie-Gude, who has pleaded guilty to possession of chemicals to manufacture explosives, turn into a mini-trial expected to go into next week. Prosecutors contend that materials were amassed as part of a plot to kill then presidential candidate Barack Obama. WaPo story here.

And on Friday Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas appeared in DC Superior Court to plead guilty to felony gun possession. You can read about it here.

Underwear Bomber Arraigned

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the young Nigerian who attempted to bring down an airplane over Detroit on Christmas day with a device smuggled on board in his underwear, was arraigned under heavy security at U.S. courthouse in Detroit yesterday.

The hearing took all of three minutes, but while waiting for it to begin I was able to do a nice rendering of the stuffed bald eagle that was on display on the left side of the Judge's bench. Not something usually seen in a courtroom.

Detroit Free Press story here.

DC Officer Charged with Murder in Robbery Gone Awry

DC police officer Reginald Jones (in red) was arraigned in Superior Court yesterday evening on a murder charge for his part in a robbery in which two men were shot and one died.

Officer Jones was in his patrol car, acting as a look-out, while several men attempted to rob a drug dealer. In an ensuing scuffle one of the robbers was shot and killed by his own son, Arvel Crawford (also pictured), who also took part in the robbery.

WaPo  story here.

DNA Clears Prisoner After 27 Years

While Donald Gates, convicted of the 1981 rape and murder of a university student, waited in an Arizona prison lawyers in a DC courtroom were asking a judge to release him.

Gates' conviction was based largely on the testimony of an FBI forensic analyst whose work has been discredited.

Pictured are Judge Fred Ugast, the original trial judge, at the lectern is Sandra Levick from the Public Defender Service, and Assistant U.S.Attorney Joan Draper.

WaPo story here.

Supreme Court Hears Honest Services

Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben faced an uphill battle yesterday as the Justices questioned the vagueness of the Honest Services Act that makes it a crime to "deprive another of the intangible right of honest services."

In response to Justice Scalia's  aggressive grilling Dreeben said, "I think we would all agree, Justice Scalia, that had Congress taken your counsel, I would not be here today defending what the Congress attempted to do."

WaPo story here.

Sicopata

Sicopata, spanish for psycho, is the nickname Josue Pena, 26, went by in the DC Columbia Heights neighborhood where 9-year-old Oscar Fuentes died last Saturday evening.

Pena, shown here at his arraignment in courtroom C-10 of DC Superior Court yesterday, is accused of firing through a door the shot that killed the young boy.

Relatives of the boy had ducked into the apartment where Oscar lived with his mother and grandmother as Pena persued them in a robbery attempt.  Oscar was tying to look through the peephole when the bullet pierced the locked door.

WaPo story here.

Jefferson Sentenced

Former congressman William Jefferson stood with his attorney, Robert Trout, his clasped hands resting on the lectern, as Judge Ellis sentenced him to 13 years in prison. Jefferson, 62, infamous for the $90,000. in cold cash found in his freezer made no statement.

WaPo story here.

Life-Without-Parole for Juveniles?

In 2005 the Supreme Court banned the death penalty for youthful offenders under the age of 18.  Today the court was asked to establish a similar bar to sentencing non-homicide juvenile offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Pictured is attorney Bryan Stevenson arguing in the second of the two Florida cases, Sullivan v. Florida.

Dahlia Lithwick has story here.

1 Hearing, 39 Defendants

Thirty-nine names were on the docket for yesterday's status hearing in the DC Taxicab Commission bribery case. One or two may have been home with the flu, but it was still quite a crowd.

Short WaPo story here.

Pity the Immigrant

Shanika Robinson, shown above with her brother Leon, agreed to marry Shahabuddin Rana in exchange for monthly payments of $500.  The immigration scam turned deadly when Rana's brother, after learning that Robinson was having sexual affairs with other men, refused to continue paying.

On August 18 Shahabuddin was found dead in the DC pizzeria that he owned with his brother.  Shanika, her brother and another man are accused of beating Shahbuddin to death and attempting to set the body on fire.

Yesterday's preliminary hearing will resume on Friday.

WaPo story here.

Justices Question Animal Cruelty Law

 

Ten years ago Congress passed a law banning video and other depictions of animal cruelty, but the Supreme Court is likely to decide that the law is too broad and vague.

 

Justice Alito was the only Justice who seemed inclined to support the law. In response to a lawyer's argument that historically depictions of animal cruelty have been under the umbrella of the First Amendment, he suggested that technology may have removed some of that protection.

    Justice Alito: Well, isn't that due to changes in technology?  Before people could watch videos at home, this sort of thing would be very difficult.

    Attorney Patricia Millett: This covers photographs, . . . .  I'm not sure it wouldn't cover sketch artists or a hieroglyphic, for all I know.

    Justice Alito: And is there - - - in the real world is there a market for sketches of dog fights?

 WaPo story here.

A Wink and a Nod Plea Deal

Sentenced to life without parole for the 1997 killing of a DC police officer, Donovan Strickland claims that he was promised a reduced sentence in exchange for his guilty plea.  Under Maryland law, convicts have a right to ask a judge to reduce their sentence and in 2005 the trial judge in this case, Richard H. Sothoron Jr, presided over a hearing to reconsider the sentence.  The courtroom was packed with police officers, including the Chief and his command staff, opposing any reduction in Strickland's sentence.

At the hearing Strickland's trial attorney, Michael Blumenthal, said that Judge Sothoron
had promised to reduce the sentence to life and suspend all but 50 years. The matter was turned over to the Chief Administrative Judge who assigned the case to Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Whalen. After working it's way through the appeals courts a sentencing reconsideration hearing was finally held in Judge Whalen's courtroom yesterday.

Strickland's attorney again testified to the "wink and a nod" promise made by the judge. Again the courtroom was packed with DC police officers including Chief Cathy Lanier, pictured above center foreground.

Donovan Strickland, took the stand to say that his understanding when he agreed to the plea was that with good behavior his sentenced would later be reduced and he could be eligible for parole in 25-30 years.

Judge Sothoron testified "There was nothing discussed beforehand that is not reflected in the record,"  and "the record speaks for itself". Although he did admit that he was  "inclined to favor a reconsideration of the sentence," at the time a plea deal was accepted.
The hearing was continued until next Thursday, but before recessing for the day the Judge heard statements from
    Donovan Strickland's brother,

and from Oliver Smith, the father of slain officer Oliver Smith Jr.

General Kagan's Maiden Argument

In an unusual September sitting, historic in several ways, the nation's first woman Solicitor General made her first oral argument before the first Supreme Court to include a Latina, presumably wise.

The court seemed poised to undo, at least partially, a hundred-year-old ban on corporate campaign financing, as Solicitor General Kagan all but to acknowledged : "If you are asking me, Mr. Chief Justice, as to whether the government has a preference as to the way in which it loses if it has to lose, the answer is 'yes'."

Also in the picture are, left to right, First Amendment champion Floyd Abrams, unidentified attorney, former Bush Administration Solicitor General Ted Olsen and, on the far right, former Clinton Solicitor General Seth Waxman. (note: Justices Alito and Ginsburg are not pictured, but were seated on the far left.)

Dahlia Lithwick has written about it here.

 

Sotomayor Investiture

The sketch shows Justice Sotomayor being sworn in at today's investiture ceremony. Attorney General Eric Holder and Solicitor General Elena Kagan are seated at the table. To the right is President Obama, and Vice-President Biden (I didn't quite capture a good likeness of Biden). In the left foreground is the chair used by Chief Justice John Marshall in the early 19th century, and  where Sotomayor was seated as the Clerk read her commission.

Holocaust Museum Shooter in Court

James von Brunn, the 89 year old white supremacist who shot and killed a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in June finally appeared in court today. Despite having been reportedly shot in the face von Brunn seemed alert and was able to speak clearly.

He objected to the public defender's request for a mental competency exam saying: "your constitution guarantees me a speedy and fair trial".

Washington Post story here.

Jefferson Guilty (but not for "cold cash")

The jury in the trial of former Congressman William Jefferson, infamous for the $90,000 in marked bills found in his freezer, returned a verdict late yesterday, the fifth day of their deliberations.  Although Jefferson was found guilty on 11 of 16 counts the jury acquitted on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (note that as of this posting Wikipedia is wrong on FCPA conviction) charge that related to the "cold cash" intended as a bribe to the Nigerian Vice-President.

Times-Picayune story here.

Judge Frees Gitmo Detainee

Judge Ellen Huvelle yesterday ordered the government to release Mohammed Jawad, a young Guantanamo detainee whose confession under torture was thrown out by a military judge.  Though unlikely, criminal charges could still be brought against Jawad, an action the judge discouraged. "I hope the government will succeed in getting him back to Afghanistan," Huvelle said.

In the sketch Jawad's attorney, Maj. David Frakt, is pictured at the podium. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ian Gershengorn is standing on the left.

NYT story here.

Farewell Justice Souter

Monday was David Souter's last day as a Supreme Court Justice, and this is last sketch of the bench as composed since Justice Alito was seated.

Come Fall, in a bit of musical chairs, Justice Thomas will take the seat vacated by Souter, Ginsberg will take Thomas' seat, Breyer will take Ginsberg's, and Alito will move to where Breyer used to sit. The new, most junior Justice will take her seat at the far end on the Chief Justice's left.

Dana Milbank on Monday's session here.