D.C. Federal District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina has just dismissed all charges against several Blackwater guards, who were accused of voluntary manslaughter and various serious firearms offenses in connection with a September 16, 2007, shooting in Baghdad. A copy of the opinion, which can be found here, chastises the government for improper conduct: In their zeal […]
Author Archive | Paul Cassell
Should Crime Victims Have the Right to Be Heard on Federal Sentencing Guidelines Issues?
I recently argued that they should to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Currently the procedures at sentencing envision the parties arguing the various factors, but not a crime victim. This approach reflects an outdated way of thinking about criminal procedure — that only the state and the defendant have legitimate interests in the outcome of a criminal […]
Symposium on Freedom from Religion
Tomorrow, the University of Utah College of Law will host a symposium about Freedom from Religion. Based on Professor Amos N. Guiora’s new book, Freedom from Religion: Rights and National Security (Oxford University Press, 2009), this Symposium will explore the limits of tolerance of religious extremism in five countries and its impact on the current […]
Are Lawyers A Productive Part of Society?
The ABA Journal has this interesting thought attributed to Justice Scalia. Asked to comment on whether the quality of advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court was too low, Justice Scalia is quoted as saying: “I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in […]
Is Judge Sotomayor’s Cheerleading for Obama Proper?
Ed Whelan has this very interesting post on whether Judge Sotomayor’s public support for Obama’s election as President was unduly partisan. Indeed, Whelan suggests the Sotomayor may have violated the canons of judicial ethics requiring judges to maintain the appearance of impartiality. I have to say that, when I was a federal judge, I certainly […]
Judge Sotomayor’s 50 Most Important Opinions:
Over at The Right Coast, USD law prof. Tom Smith has this interesting list of Judge Sotomayor’s 50 Most Important Opinions. As I understand it, the algorithm he uses to collect the most important opinions — called PreCYdent — determines which particular opinions have been most influential in the development of the law. Interestingly, the […]
Should President Obama Create a Domestic Terror Court?
My colleague Amos Guiora argues “yes” in this interesting article. Here is the nub of the argument: President Barack Obama has stated that among his initial priorities as commander-in-chief is closing the United States detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. One of his first actions after taking office was to suspend all legal proceedings in Guantanamo […]
CIA Chief Criticizes Pelosi:
CIA Director Leon Panetta sent this message to CIA employees today. It directly rebuts claims from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the CIA provided misleading information to Congress: There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be […]
Not Guilty Verdicts in the W.R. Grace Prosecution:
The Justice Department just suffered a huge loss up in federal court in Montana. The jury just returned not guilty verdicts on all counts as to all defendants in the W.R. Grace environmental prosecution, which alleged that the company and some of its top corporate officers had knowingly endangered the residents of Libby, Montana through […]
Was Israel’s Gaza Campaign Proper Under the Law of Armed Conflict?
Professor David Luban of Georgetown and my colleague Amos Guiora have this interesting exchange about Israel’s recent incursion into the Gaza strip. Luban argues that the Gaza campaign violated both the jus ad bellum and jus in bello proportionality principles and that the Hamas civil administration were not lawful targets under Israel’s own interpretation of […]
Law Prof’s Article About His Jury Experience Leads to Overturned Verdict:
The ABA Journal has this interesting article about how a law professor’s article for the New Jersey Law Journal resulted in an overturned jury verdict. A New Jersey appeals court ruled that the professor’s explanation of legal concepts to his fellow jurors had a tendency to influence the verdict. The appellate court opinion, found here, […]
First Obama Court of Appeals Nominee
President Obama has just named his first court of appeals nominee — district judge David Hamilton, nominated for the Seventh Circuit. I had the pleasure of working with Judge Hamilton for several years on the Judicial Conference’s Criminal Law Committee. He always struck me as a very sensible and reasonable person — a good selection […]
Crime Victims Win in the Ninth Circuit:
The Ninth Circuit has justed entered an order, found here, granting the crime victims petition for a writ of mandamus in the W.R. Grace prosecution in Montana. At the same time, however, the court sent the case back for more particularized findings on whether or not the victims’ testimony would be affected by watching the […]
Briefs All Filed on “Crime Victim” Issue in W.R. Grace Environmental Case:
I blogged recently about the W.R. Grace criminal trial, which started this Monday. As alleged in the indictment, the case involves crimes of “knowingly endangering” the residents of Libby, Montana. The district judge has ruled that these knowing endangerment crimes do not produce “crime victims” because they do not produce actual harm, only threatened danger. […]
Who Are “Victims” of Environmental Crimes? Ninth Circuit Fight Brewing in the W.R. Grace Prosecution:
Yesterday the criminal trial of the W.R. Grace & Co. and various responsible corporate officers began in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana. The trial is one of the most-watched environmental prosecutions by the Justice Department in recent memory, as it involves allegations of release of asbestos into Libby, Montana over the last several decades. […]