Jan 7, 2010 | Case Comments, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 43
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a criminal defendant with the right to a trial by an impartial jury. If a jury convicts a criminal defendant, the United States Sentencing Guidelines (Sentencing Guidelines) provide guidance to federal...
Jan 7, 2010 | Case Comments, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 43
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), an alien is subject to deportation if convicted of any aggravated felony. A state misdemeanor drug offense is an aggravated felony if that offense would constitute a felony had it been charged under the Federal...
Jan 7, 2010 | Case Comments, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 43
The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right of the people to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The United States Supreme Court created the exclusionary rule, which requires suppression of evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment when the...
Aug 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 42
The prosecution usually must prove a criminal defendant had the necessary mens rea, or culpable mental state, generally defined by the legislature in criminal statutes, to convict him or her of a crime. Title 18, section 1028A(a)(1) of the United States Code, the...
Aug 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 42
Federal common law governs claims arising out of employee benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit created an approach for interpreting the ambiguous word “accident” in...
