by Paul A. Batista, Esq.
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Free Publications Added to Indiana Supreme Court Legal History Series
Posted on behalf of the Court History and Public Education division of the Indiana Supreme Court. Please contact Ms. Sarah Hachey with your requests.
The Indiana Supreme Court is pleased to announce the addition of two new
FREE* publications to the Indiana Supreme Court Legal History Series.
U.S. Supreme Court Update: McDaniel v. Brown
A Service from the ABA Criminal Justice Section, http://www.abanet.org/crimjust
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a defendant convicted of the rape of a 9-year-old girl after a night of heavy drinking.
The Supreme Court said in a per curiam opinion that overstated estimates of a DNA match at trial did not warrant reversal of a conviction when there is still “convincing evidence of guilt.”
Findlaw Case Summaries: U.S. Supreme Court. 01/26/2010
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CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, HABEAS CORPUS, PER CURIAM McDaniel v. Brown, No. 08-559 In habeas proceedings arising from a rape conviction, a circuit court of appeals’ order affirming the grant of petitioner’s habeas petition is reversed and remanded where: 1) the court of appeals’ analysis failed to preserve the factfinder’s role as weigher of the evidence by reviewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, and it erred in finding a state court’s resolution of petitioner’s claim to be objectively unreasonable; and 2) petitioner forfeited his claim that a prosecution expert incorrectly described the statistical implications of certain DNA evidence.
CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, HABEAS CORPUS, SENTENCING Smith v. Spisak, No. 08–724 In capital habeas proceedings, a grant of petitioner’s habeas petition is reversed where a state court’s rejection of claimed errors regarding jury instructions and verdict forms, as well as ineffective assistance of counsel, was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law as: 1) the jury instructions and forms in the penalty phase made clear that, to recommend a death sentence, the jury had to find unanimously that each of the aggravating factors outweighed any mitigating circumstances, but they did not say that the jury had to determine the existence of each individual mitigating factor unanimously; and 2) even assuming that defense counsel’s closing argument was inadequate in the respects claimed by petitioner, there was no reasonable probability that a better closing argument without such defects would have made a significant difference.
Findlaw Case Summaries: Criminal Law and Procedure 33
January 18, 2010 – January 1, 2010
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Supreme Court, January 19, 2010 Wellons v. Hall, No. 09–5731 In a capital habeas matter, the petition for certiorari is granted and the court of appeals’ order is vacated and remanded where the court of appeals incorrectly held that the habeas petition, which claimed that petitioner was denied discovery into the issue of whether there had been improper communications between the judge and jury, was procedurally barred based on an insufficient record, contrary to Cone v. Bell, 556 U.S. ___ (2009).
Findlaw Case Summaries: Constitutional Law 30
January 18, 2010 – January 1, 2010
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U.S. Supreme Court, January 21, 2010 Citizens United v. FEC, No. 08–205 The Court rules that the government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether. Specifically, in an action brought by a nonprofit corporation, the makers of a documentary critical of Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy, challenging the constitutionality of a federal law prohibiting corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make independent expenditures for speech that was an “electioneering communication” or for speech that expressly advocated the election or defeat of a candidate, a denial of a preliminary injunction for plaintiff is reversed in part where Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652 (1990), is overruled, and thus provides no basis for allowing the government to limit corporate independent expenditures. Hence, the part of McConnell v. Federal Election Comm’n, 540 U.S. 93 (2007), that upheld the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act sect! ion 203’s extension of section 441b’s restrictions on independent corporate expenditures is also overruled. However, the order is affirmed in part where BCRA sections 201 and 311 were valid as applied to the ads for the documentary and to the movie itself because disclaimer and disclosure requirements may burden the ability to speak, but they imposed no ceiling on campaign-related activities, or prevented anyone from speaking. .
ABA Journal Newsletter
For Week Ending January 22, 2010
Law Students
Deluged with Clerkship Apps, Some Federal Judges Don’t Look at All of Them
ABA Weekly Newsletter January 15, 2010
Top Ten Stories for Week Ending January 15, 2010
Careers DLA ‘Working Lawyer’ Explains Why He and 8 Others Moved to Jackson Lewis Jan 14, 2010, 09:39 am CST
Legal Ethics Unhappy Secretary’s Report Spurs Ethics Trouble for NJ Litigator
New York Governor David Paterson Presents Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2010-2011
Yesterday January 19, 2010 New York State Governor David Paterson proposed a 2010-11 Executive Budget that according to a Press Release from the Governor’s Office “makes significant spending reductions in order to eliminate a $7.4 billion deficit and institutes key reforms to put New York on the road to economic and fiscal recovery. The Executive Budget proposal includes spending reductions across every area of the budget; limits State spending to far below both the Governor’s proposed spending cap and the rate of inflation; implements the most significant public higher education reforms in a generation; and provides fiscal relief to local governments through an aggressive mandate reform agenda.”
Below are links to some of the documents related to that proposal. Some of these documents are related primarily to the proposed State of New York Executive Budget as a whole while others include various agency presnetations, A link to State of New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman’s commentary on the Governors observations regarding the judiciary part of the budget proposal is also included.
Link to Press Release , video presentation and various other documents related to Governors budget Address on January 19:
Help for Haiti Earthquake Victims
In his posting on the Blog Critics Culture Blog, William Lambers explains that bloggers can help Haiti by taking action through spreading the work about the suffering in that country and by showing how others can help. Although Lambers is referring in his post primarily to the World Food Programme, his words aply to blogging assistance in promoting other programs as well.
You may also be interested in the video from the New York State Comptroller regarding Haiti at http://www.osc.state.ny.us/video/haitian_relief.wmv