Author Archive for Michael M. O'Hear

So Long, Harris — Breyer’s on Board

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Federal Criminal Law & Process, Federal Sentencing, Public, U.S. Supreme Court | No Comments »

Yesterday, in a long-anticipated move, the Supreme Court finally overturned its 2002 decision in Harris v. United States. The new decision in Alleyne v. United States extended jury-trial rights to ... Read more »

SCOTUS: No Automatic Reversal of Conviction When Judge Improperly Participated in Plea Discussions

Thursday, June 13th, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Federal Criminal Law & Process, Public, Seventh Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court | No Comments »

Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 sets forth various requirements and prohibitions relating to guilty pleas, including a ban on judges participating in plea discussions. If there is a violation, ... Read more »

SCOTUS: Guidelines Amendments Trigger Ex Post Facto Protections

Monday, June 10th, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Federal Criminal Law & Process, Federal Sentencing, Public, U.S. Supreme Court | No Comments »

So just how advisory are the “advisory” federal sentencing guidelines? That was the central question in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision earlier today in Peugh v. United States, which held ... Read more »

Habeas Roundup: SCOTUS (Slightly) Eases Petitioners’ Paths

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Public, U.S. Supreme Court | No Comments »

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a flurry of habeas corpus decisions in the past two weeks.  The habeas petitioner won in two of the cases and lost in the ... Read more »

Welcome, June Bloggers

Saturday, June 1st, 2013
Category: Public | No Comments »

Our guest bloggers in June are Emily Lonergan '11 and 2L Dan Fahey. Many thanks to our May guests, Amelia Bizzaro ’03, 2L A.J. Peterman, and 2L Derek Becker. Read more »

If You Build It . . .

Saturday, May 25th, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Public | No Comments »

The paths followed by crime and incarceration in the United States have been mirror images of one another over the past two decades.  This can be clearly seen in the ... Read more »

The Eighth Amendment and Life Without Parole for Adults

Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Legal Scholarship, Public, U.S. Supreme Court | No Comments »

My new article, “Not Just Kid Stuff? Extending Graham and Miller to Adults,” is now available on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: The United States Supreme Court has recently recognized new constitutional ... Read more »

Milwaukee: The Most Dangerous Size

Monday, May 13th, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Milwaukee, Public | No Comments »

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics issued a new report compiling nearly two decades of data on gun crime, Firearm Violence, 1993-2011.  No doubt, many readers will pore over the report’s ... Read more »

The Sheriff Must Run the Jail, But How Do You Know Whether a Facility Is a Jail?

Monday, May 6th, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Milwaukee, Public, Wisconsin Criminal Law & Process, Wisconsin Law & Legal System, Wisconsin Supreme Court | No Comments »

Last week, the Circuit Court in Milwaukee County rejected the effort of Sheriff David A. Clarke to maintain control over the County Correctional Facility South.  (Judge Van Grunsven's ruling is ... Read more »

Welcome, May Bloggers

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
Category: Public | No Comments »

Our guest bloggers in May are Amelia Bizzaro '03, 2L A.J. Peterman, and 2L Derek Becker. Many thanks to our April guests, 1L Mario Falsetti and 1L Grant Henderson. Read more »

Wisconsin #1 in Black Incarceration; How Did We Get Here?

Monday, April 22nd, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Milwaukee, Public, Race & Law, Wisconsin Criminal Law & Process | No Comments »

A new report from the UWM Employment and Training Institute shows that Wisconsin leads the nation in incarcerating black males.  Based on data from the 2010 U.S. census, Wisconsin incarcerates about one ... Read more »

Tale of Three States: Minnesota’s Surprisingly Large Supervised Population

Monday, April 8th, 2013
Category: Criminal Law & Process, Public | 1 Comment »

As noted here a few weeks ago, my forthcoming article comparing imprisonment trends in Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in now available on-line.  Due to space constraints, I was unable to ... Read more »


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