Michael M. O’Hear – Page 177 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Priorities for the Next President: Criminal Justice Policy

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:October 21, 2008
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Legal Scholarship

I’ve just received the latest issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter, which is entirely devoted to ideas for criminal justice reform for the next Administration. The contributors are an amazingly diverse and well-credentialed bunch, including two U.S. Senators, two Congressmen, two representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, a judge of the Missouri Supreme Court, the head of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, the former special projects director of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and representatives of the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association, the Federal Defenders, the private defense bar, and the legal academy. The contents are more specifically described through links here. (Unfortunately, little besides the table of contents is available for free download, although my own humble contribution to the issue is described in this post. As an author, I do have a few extra copies that I would be happy to give away; please e-mail me your address if you are interested.) I look forward to reading what looks like a rich set of ideas by some of the most interesting thinkers and influential leaders in the criminal justice field.

Cert Grant: What Is “Knowing” Identity Theft?

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:October 20, 2008
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process U.S. Supreme Court

A federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, imposes a mandatory two-year prison sentence on defendants who “knowingly” use “a means of identification of another person” in the course of committing a felony. The two years is in addition to the sentence imposed for the underlying felony. But what exactly does the word “knowingly” refer to in the statute: is it enough that the defendant knew that he was using a means of identification, or must the government also prove that the defendant knew the identification belonged to another person? This is the question raised in a case that the Supreme Court agreed to hear earlier today, United States v. Flores-Figueroa. The unpublished opinion below can be found at 2008 WL 1808508.

SCOTUS Blog summarizes the facts as follows:

Seventh Circuit Week in Review

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:October 19, 2008
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Seventh Circuit

Beginning with this post, I will provide a regular weekend review of new Seventh Circuit opinions in criminal cases. The past week was actually very quiet on the criminal front, with only one new opinion (and that one not especially significant in terms of discussing or modifying the law). In United States v. Jackson, the three defendants were convicted of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to bilk their car insurance carriers by submitting false theft claims. The Seventh Circuit had little apparent difficulty in affirming the convictions over the defendants’ arguments that the evidence was insufficient, that material evidence had been withheld by the government, and that evidence of a prior conviction had been improperly admitted.