An October 16, 2012 decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has ended the lengthy ordeal of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was originally captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and detained at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba after he was accused of being an “unlawful enemy combatant.” ...
A recent audit by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice highlights the many challenges the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and its wholly-owned government corporation, Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI), face with respect to the FPI’s increasing financial problems. The audit, which covers FPI’s operations ...
In a “plain error” reversal of a district court’s order imposing a 24-month sentence on a defendant who violated the terms of his supervised release for the sole purpose of ensuring that he could participate in a prison-based substance abuse program, the Eighth Circuit reasserted the rule set forth in ...
In reviewing the appeal of federal prisoner York Wilson, convicted by a jury of “assault resulting in serious bodily injury,” the Seventh Circuit criticized the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) policy that requires most prisoners to wear steel-toe boots. This mandate, according to the appellate court, could have resulted in the ...
Aaron Taylor, incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Philadelphia, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon under 18 U.S.C. § 113(a)(3) and assault resulting in serious bodily injury under § 113(a)(6), stemming from an attack on another prisoner. He attempted to assert the affirmative defense of “just ...
When Ronald D. Dougan pleaded guilty in January 2011 to robbing an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma post office of $220, he likely did not anticipate the unforeseen consequences that would result due to his previous 1978 conviction for sexual battery and 1994 conviction for aggravated battery (which was allegedly sexual in ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that “where the sentencing court has failed to consider whether the defendant has the financial resources to pay restitution immediately, ordering immediate payment impermissibly delegates to the BOP [Bureau of Prisons] the court’s obligation to set a payment schedule.” ...
Civilly-committed patients in the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) officials, alleging that various conditions of their confinement were unconstitutional. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants which was ...
In a September 6, 2012 memorandum opinion, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia once again asserted an “obligation to assure that those seeking to challenge their Executive detention by petitioning for habeas relief have adequate, effective and meaningful access to the courts.” In doing so, the district ...
Although more and more states have abolished the death penalty in recent years, with six states doing away with capital punishment since 2007, the death penalty still has strong support in certain elements of society, notably among lawmakers. However, there should be little dispute as to the growing body of ...
