New Criminal Law Blogs

Criminal law aficionados might want to check out two new blogs with Marquette connections.  First, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Updates tracks new decisions by the Seventh Circuit in criminal cases. The authors are Amelia Bizzaro ’03, Tony Cotton ’05, Chris Donovan ’05, Josh Uller ’05, and your truly.

Second, Cybercrime Review explores “new technology, recent legal developments, and interesting arguments at the intersection of computers and the law.”  The authors are a current Marquette student, Justin Webb, and Jeffrey Brown, a student at the University of Mississippi School of Law.  In addition to being law students, both Justin and Jeffrey have impressive professional credentials in the IT field.  Justin’s comment on GPS tracking and the Fourth Amendment appeared in the most recent issue of the Marquette Law Review.

Continue ReadingNew Criminal Law Blogs

SCOTUS to Decide on Padilla Retroactivity

Earlier today, the Supreme Court granted cert. in Chaidez v. United States, 655 F.3d 684 (7th Cir. 2011). Chaidez held that the Court’s decision in Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010), would not be applied retroactively to defendants whose convictions were already final when Padilla came out. In Padilla, the Court held that a lawyer performs below minimal constitutional standards when he or she fails to advise a client of the deportation risks of a guilty plea. Now, the Court itself will have an opportunity to determine whether its decision should have retroactive effect.

The majority and dissenting judges in Chaidez all agreed that the case turned on whether Padilla announced a new rule of criminal procedure, within the meaning of Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989). With only a couple of execeptions not relevant here, Teague prohibits retroactivity for new rules. So, the question in Chaidez seems to boil down to whether Padilla announced a new rule or merely applied the basic ineffective assistance test of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).

Continue ReadingSCOTUS to Decide on Padilla Retroactivity