by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 28, 2025 8:33 am
Is the chief prosecutor of Hennepin County (Minneapolis and vicinity) violating the Equal Protection Clause by directing prosecutors to consider the defendant’s race in their charging decisions? Hans Bader has this post at Liberty Unyielding. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 26, 2025 10:12 am
SCOTUSblog has been acquired by Dispatch Media. Amy Howe has this post on SCOTUSblog, and Dispatch editor Steve Hayes has this post on the Dispatch.
I am pleased to see that Amy is staying with SCOTUSblog as a member of Dispatch’s team. Her posts on SCOTUSblog and her own blog have long been my go-to source for thorough and unbiased reports on Supreme Court cases that are outside my own field of expertise.
The usual squawkers are squawking that The Dispatch is “right-wing.” See, e.g., this post at Above the Law. But a quick look at The Dispatch’s home page illustrates how meaningless such simplistic designations are. They are certainly not Trump fans. One post is titled “Trump’s Team of Losers.” The Founding Manifesto states, “The goal was to create a place where thoughtful readers can come for conservative, fact-based news and commentary that doesn’t come either through the filter of the mainstream media or the increasingly boosterish media on the right.” That’s a long way from the image usually conjured up by the term “right wing.”
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 25, 2025 1:53 pm
Herbert Brown beat his two-year-old daughter to death in 2013. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15-to-life, of which he has only done 12 years. So why is the Board of Parole Hearings granting him parole? The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office has this press release.
“It is shameful for the Parole Board to grant Herbert David Brown III early release from prison,” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “Mr. Brown was convicted of murdering his own 22-month young daughter Lily due to abuse he inflicted upon her while he was using and under the influence of methamphetamine. Brown, who now identifies as a woman and goes by the name ‘Allie Brown,’ was sentenced to serve 15-years-to-life and should have served every day of the 15 years before being considered for possible parole. I ask the Board of Parole Hearings: ‘Where is the justice for Baby Lily?’” Continue reading . . .
by Michael Rushford · Apr 23, 2025 11:53 am
An illegal alien from Guatemala has been arrested along with his uncle for the March 31, 2025 murder of his American girlfriend. Adam Sabes of Fox News reports that 23-year-old Lesbia Mileth Ramirez Guerra’s body was found buried in a forested area of Maryland’s Prince George’s County on April 17. She was the mother of two children. The illegal, Keycy Robinson Alexi Barrera-Rosa, has been charged with her murder. Barrera-Rosa’s uncle, Rolvin Eduardo Barrera-Barrera, has been charged as an accessory to the murder. Barrera-Rosa and his uncle both crossed the U.S. border into Texas in 2019 and were given a notice to appear before a judge at a later date. They moved to Prince George’s County, a sanctuary for illegals, where they remained protected from federal immigration authorities until their arrest. According to a story in the Southern Maryland News, police believe that the young mother was strangled to death.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 19, 2025 2:41 pm
Registration of new users has been temporarily suspended due to abusive efforts.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 11, 2025 12:03 pm
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order partly granting and partly denying the Department of Homeland Security’s application in the case of the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, noted in this post Monday. Here is the dispositive paragraph:
The application is granted in part and denied in part, subject to the direction of this order. Due to the administrative stay issued by The Chief Justice, the deadline imposed by the District Court has now passed. To that extent, the Government’s emergency application is effectively granted in part and the deadline in the challenged order is no longer effective. The rest of the District Court’s order remains in effect but requires clarification on remand. The order properly requires the Government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. The intended scope of the term “effectuate” in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority. The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps. The order heretofore entered by The Chief Justice is vacated.
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 7, 2025 5:39 pm
The U.S. Supreme Court has resolved the case of deportation of Venezuelans alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, just as I said in this post on March 26. The case that arrived in the Supreme Court is the wrong type of case, filed in the wrong court, and the high court vacated it. This case must proceed in habeas corpus, and it must be brought in the district where the petitioners are detained, which is in Texas.
The opinion is here. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 7, 2025 4:20 pm
The United States has sought Supreme Court review of an order of a federal district court ordering the Government to effect the return of an alien who has already been deported and is in the custody of a foreign government. The Solicitor General’s application in Noem v. Abrego Garcia, 24A949, notes the unprecedented nature of an order “dictating to the United States that it must not only negotiate with a foreign country to return an enemy alien on foreign soil, but also succeed by 11:59 p.m. tonight.” The Chief Justice stayed the district court’s order and ordered a response by tomorrow. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 7, 2025 8:28 am
“Moving the goalposts” is widely recognized as an unfair thing to do. In criminal law, the issue rises to a constitutional one. From the beginning, the Constitution has forbidden both Congress and state legislatures from passing “ex post facto laws.”* The primary, and simple, effect of this prohibition is that a legislature cannot make an act criminal or increase the punishment for it after it has been committed, i.e., “after the fact,” in Latin.
Does a law that increases the length of time in which a restitution award may be collected constitute an ex post facto law? The U.S. Supreme Court today took up a case to decide that question, Ellingburg v. United States, No. 24-482.
There are two good arguments why the answer is no. Continue reading . . .
by Kent Scheidegger · Apr 1, 2025 2:41 pm
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has decided to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione. The press release says:
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America. After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.” Continue reading . . .
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