New York Settles Wrongful Conviction Claim for $2.7 Million
by Michael Brodheim
On November 2012, the State of New York agreed to pay $2.7 million to settle a claim filed by a woman who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for over 13 years.
Lynn DeJac was convicted in April 1994 ...
CIA’s FOIA Response to Records on Targeted Killings by Drones Deficient
by Michael Brodheim
In March 2013, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) could not respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by declining, on national security grounds, either ...
California: Court Has No Authority to Order Return of Funds Erroneously Disbursed to Creditor Pursuant to Writ of Execution
by Michael Brodheim
In May 2013, the California Court of Appeal held that the judiciary lacked authority to order the return of funds erroneously disbursed by a levying officer ...
Seventh Circuit: Routine Erasure of Prison Security Tapes Does Not Warrant Sanctions
by Michael Brodheim
The Seventh Circuit has held that a district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied a prisoner’s motion for sanctions based on the erasure of prison security tapes that allegedly would have provided ...
South Carolina Supreme Court Reverses Parole Denial
by Michael Brodheim
The Supreme Court of South Carolina, exercising the sort of common sense not found in the courts of more “liberal” states like California, held on July 3, 2013 that retroactive application of a law that increases the requirements for parole ...
Habeas Petitioner Cannot Avoid Payment of Appellate Filing Fees
by Michael Brodheim
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a prisoner seeking collateral relief cannot avoid paying appellate filing fees.
Following a murder conviction, Indiana prisoner Kelly S. Thomas was sentenced to 65 years in prison. After his ...
California: Lack of Insight Cannot be Inferred when Prisoner Accepts Responsibility for Crime and Expresses Genuine Remorse
by Michael Brodheim
In the wake of the California Supreme Court’s ruling in In Re Shaputis, 53 Cal. 4th 192 (Cal. 2011) [PLN, Aug. 2012, p.16], lower courts in California ...
California’s Lethal Injection Protocol Deemed Invalid by State Court
by Michael Brodheim
In May 2013, a California appeals court invalidated regulations promulgated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) regarding the manner in which the state executes condemned prisoners. The appellate court held that the CDCR had “substantially ...
DC Circuit: Federal Prisoner not Limited to Seeking Relief via Habeas Corpus
by Michael Brodheim
The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a federal prisoner may seek relief via means other than habeas corpus, so long as success on the merits of the claim ...
Philadelphia Sued Over Rejection of Ad Criticizing U.S. Incarceration Policies
by Michael Brodheim
On May 20, 2013, a federal district court in Pennsylvania denied the City of Philadelphia’s motion to dismiss in a case brought by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and ACLU, ...
