U. S. Supreme Court Happenings – December 29, 2022--

ALERT 2020 Update – U. S. Supreme Court Happenings – December 29, 2022 –

McClinton v. United States, (No. 21-1557) –

This case will finally be considered at next week's Supreme Court conference. Here are excerpts:

A jury convicted Dayonta McClinton of robbing a CVS pharmacy but acquitted him of murder. A judge gave McClinton an extra 13 years in prison for the killing anyway. In courtrooms across America, defendants get additional prison time for crimes that juries found they didn’t commit.

Sentencing a defendant for what’s called “acquitted conduct” has gone on for years, based on a Supreme Court decision from the late 1990s [United States v. Watts, 519 U.S. 148, 117 S.Ct. 633, 136 L.Ed.2d 554 (1997)]. And the Justices have turned down numerous appeals asking them to declare that the Constitution forbids it.

The closest the court came to taking up the issue was in 2014, when Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg provided three of the four votes necessary to hear an appeal.... Scalia and Ginsburg have since died, and Thomas remains on the court. But two other justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, have voiced concerns while serving as appeals court judges. Stay tuned.

COMMENT:

We are hopeful about the possibility of 2023 being the year for U. S. Supreme Court to take up acquitted conduct sentencing. If enough Justices are sincerely committed to orignalist principles, perhaps this issue will get to the Court's docket this coming year. Anyone who believes they may have a Taylor, Concepcion, Ruan, Bruen, Earned Time Credit or any other claim you believe you may have relief coming for or just want to see if we can find something that will gain you relief should opt for a Written Case Evaluation. The evaluation is an excellent tool to see what can be done for you at any stage of the proceedings.

There were 6 new compassionate release motions granted this week and 4 others were granted relief for the Fair Sentencing Act/ Retroactive Sentence Reductions.

Anyone who thinks that they may qualify for compassionate release or any other remedy should request a Written Case Evaluation (we no longer offer Free Lookups). For the last 28 years, we have also been very successful on direct appeals, 2255 motions and 2241 Petitions, First Step Act, Compassionate Release Motions, DC Superior Court, State Post Conviction, Clemencies and Pardons, and Parole Packages to mention a few avenues for relief. We also can help you with Earned Time Credits and other specialized motions.

If you are serious about fighting your case and want us to evaluate your case to see if you may have relief coming, request a Written Case Evaluation.

Request a Written Case Evaluation