Public – Page 598 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Cory Maples May Avoid Procedural Default, But Will Anyone Else Ride His Coattails?

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:January 20, 2012
Post category:Federal Criminal Law & Process Public U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that habeas petitioner Cory Maples may not have to bear the consequences of a truly egregious dereliction of duty by his pro bono lawyers. The lower federal courts had refused to consider Maples’ petition on the merits because he had missed a filing deadline in state court. Normally, criminal defendants are stuck with the mistakes of their lawyers, but in this case — “a veritable perfect storm of misfortune,” as Justice Alito called it — the defendant will have another opportunity to litigate his claims. (The full opinion in Maples v. Thomas is here.)

Here’s what happened. Maples was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by an Alabama state court. His direct appeals were unsuccessful. He then launched a collateral attack in state trial court. The Supreme Court recounted what happened next:

Providing Straight Information on Public Opinion in a Historic Political Time

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:January 19, 2012
Post category:Election Law Marquette Law School Political Processes & Rhetoric Public

Amid the amazing tumult on the Wisconsin political scene, with partisanship and passion running so high, how can you get straight information about what voters are thinking?

One good answer: You can run a large-scale polling project, adhering to the highest standards of professionalism and non-partisanship. You can poll repeatedly throughout the year, so that you can follow trends. You can make all the results available promptly to anybody. You can go to lengths to give others a chance to see what you’ve found out.

That is what the Marquette Law School Poll is going to do. It will be the most extensive polling project in Wisconsin history, and we are fully committed to making it an independent effort that will have no agenda except to find out as much as we can about public opinion in Wisconsin and share it with all.

In fact, consider this your invitation to tune into the poll’s results. We are launching the first round of polling on Thursday, Jan. 19, and will release the results next Wednesday, Jan. 25.

Private Prisons and Accountability

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:January 17, 2012
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Federal Civil Litigation Federal Criminal Law & Process Public U.S. Supreme Court

Last week, in Minneci v. Pollard (No. 10-1104), the United States Supreme Court held that employees of privately run federal prisons cannot be sued for money damages for violations of constitutional rights. By coincidence, last week also saw the release of a new report on private prisons by the Sentencing Project. The report raises a multitude of concerns with private prisons, which may leave the reader troubled that the Supreme Court has now chosen to diminish the accountability of for-profit jailers.

Here are the (quite critical) conclusions of the Sentencing Project: