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SCOTUS Digest

Sep 1, 2021

Plea & Sentencing – Jury Instructions

Federal law prohibits the possession of firearms by certain categories of individuals, including by those who have been convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison.

Sep 1, 2021

Statutory Interpretation – First Step Act – Mandatory Minimum Penalty

In 1986, Congress established mandatory-minimum penalties for cocaine offenses.

Aug 25, 2021

Statutory Interpretation – Armed Career Criminal Act – Violent Felony

The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U. S. C. §924(e), mandates a 15-year minimum sentence for persons found guilty of illegally possessing a gun who have three or more prior convictions for a “violent felony.”

Aug 25, 2021

Immigration – Temporary Protected Status

Petitioner Jose Santos Sanchez entered this country unlawfully from El Salvador.

Aug 19, 2021

Statutory Interpretation – Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 – Exceeds Authorized Access

Nathan Van Buren, a former police sergeant, ran a license-plate search in a law enforcement computer database in exchange for money.

Aug 19, 2021

Immigration – Asylum

The question comes to us in cases involving Cesar Alcaraz-Enriquez and Ming Dai. Mr. Alcaraz-Enriquez is a Mexican national.

Aug 19, 2021

Sovereign Authority – Detain and Search Non-Indians

The question presented is whether an Indian tribe’s police officer has authority to detain temporarily and to search a non-Indian on a public right-of-way that runs through an Indian reservation.

Jul 8, 2021

Immigration – Stop-time Rule

Anyone who has applied for a passport, filed for Social Security benefits, or sought a license understands the government’s affinity for forms.

Jul 8, 2021

Writ of Certiorari

In 2009, an Alaska jury convicted Sean Wright of 13 counts of sexual abuse of a minor.

Jun 30, 2021

Sentencing Guidelines – Abuse of Discretion

Under Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. 460 (2012), an individual who commits a homicide when he or she is under 18 may be sentenced to life without parole, but only if the sentence is not mandatory and the sentencer therefore has discretion to impose a lesser punishment.

Jun 30, 2021

ALJ Error – Disability Benefits

When the Social Security Administration (SSA) denies a claim for disability benefits, a claimant who wishes to contest that decision in federal court must first seek a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ).

Jun 30, 2021

Federal Trade Commission Act – Restitution

Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes the Commission to obtain, “in proper cases,” a “permanent injunction” in federal court against “any person, partnership, or corporation” that it believes “is violating, or is about to violate, any provision of law” that the Commission enforces. 87 Stat. 592, 15 U. S. C. §53(b).

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