Federal Law & Legal System – Page 76 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

SCOTUS to Revisit Life Without Parole for Juveniles

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:November 8, 2011
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Public U.S. Supreme Court

Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in two new cases that will test the limits of the Court’s important 2010 ruling in Graham v. Florida, which banned the sentence of life without possibility of parole for most juvenile offenders. Graham recognized an exception, however, for juveniles convicted of homicide. It is this exception that is at issue in the two new cases, both of which involve fourteen-year-old killers.

The two cases are Miller v. Alabama (opinion below: 63 So. 3d 676 (Ala. Crim. App. 2010)) and Jackson v. Hobbs (2011 Ark. 49). The question granted in each case is the same, and they are to be argued together. It appears that the defendants are presenting a categorical challenge to the constitutionality of “LWOP” as applied to fourteen-year-olds.

A Belated Review of Criminal Cases in the Supreme Court Last Term

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:November 5, 2011
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Public U.S. Supreme Court

At Life Sentences Blog, I’ve just finished a series of posts reviewing the Supreme Court’s criminal cases from last term. In light of their belated nature, I have not cross-posted them, but here are the links:

Budget Cuts Haven’t Meant Prosecution Cuts Here, Santelle Says

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:October 19, 2011
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Eastern District of Wisconsin Federal Criminal Law & Process Marquette Law School Milwaukee Public Speakers at Marquette

In case any criminals reading this are hoping to avoid prosecution because budget cuts are reducing the reach of federal prosecutors, their hopes are ill-founded – at least for now, according to James Santelle, the U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin.

But down the road and even now in places other than eastern Wisconsin? Cutbacks in federal spending could and sometimes are translating into decisions not to prosecute cases, Santelle said.

Speaking Tuesday at an “On the Issues” session at Eckstein Hall, Santelle told Mike Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, that the staff he oversees in offices in Milwaukee and Green Bay, has been reduced from about 80 several years ago to about 70 now. More cuts may lie ahead, he said.

But so far, the reduction has been accomplished without affecting decisions on who to prosecute, Santelle said. That hasn’t been true in offices of US Attorneys in some places around the country, where decisions on matters such as “smaller” drug cases or white collar financial crimes are being shaped by whether the office has adequate resources. He said a $1 million bank fraud in some instances may be below the threshold a prosecutor has set for bringing a case to court, given practical limits on how much can get done.