U. S. Supreme Court Happenings, Favorable Federal Circuit Opinions and Other News for the Week of September 16-20, 2024--
U. S. Supreme Court Happenings– Week ending September 20, 2024 –
The Court is currently in summer recess. The first conference of the new term will be on September 30, 2024. The new term will begin in October 7, 2024.
Favorable Federal Circuit Opinions for the Week of September 16-20, 2024 –4th Circuit
United States v. Alcorn, (No. 22-4521)(4th Cir. September 17, 2024)– Alcorn appealed from his conviction and sentence in the Eastern District of Virginia for their involvement in long running illegal schemes that defrauded multiple investors of millions of dollars. In February 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were tried together before a jury in Norfolk. On appeal, Alcorn separately that the court committed a reversible sentencing error, by failing to properly impose his conditions of supervised release. At Alcorn’s sentencing, the court imposed the “standard conditions of supervised release that have been adopted by this court — that is, this Court in the Eastern District of Virginia.” The specific reference by the judge to the standard conditions adopted by “this Court in the Eastern District of Virginia” fatally undermines the government’s final contention, that Alcorn’s sentencing court was somehow referring to a list of standard conditions contained in the Sentencing Guidelines. Because the district court erred in connection with Alcorn’s sentencing, the Court vacated his sentence and remanded.
5th Circuit
United States v. Day, (No. 23-50636)(5th Cir. September 16, 2024)– A jury convicted Ethan Sturgis Day of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and aiding and abetting in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1343, 1349, and 1957(a). Some of Day’s victims were corporate customers. Those victims placed orders for dozens of containers, and they received the bulk of those orders. That is why the district court lowered Day’s loss amount by nearly $1 million. And that evidence undermined the Government’s contention that the court could rest its § 2B1.1(b)(2)(c)enhancement on the inference that only poor people bought Day’s container houses. The district court sentenced him to 101 months of incarceration and three years of supervised release. Day challenged that sentence as procedurally erroneous. The Court vacates his sentence and remanded for resentencing. On remand, the evidence may yet support some pattern of substantial financial hardship that qualifies for one of § 2B1.1(b)(2)’s enhancements. But the record before the Court did not support the subsection (c) enhancement for 25 or more victims of substantial hardship.
OTHER NEWSBIDEN NEEDS TO WORK ON HIS CLEMENCY
The quoted portion of the title of this article is the headline of this New York Times commentary authored by Rachel Barkow and Mark Osler. Here are excerpts:
End-of-term clemency chaos has become an unfortunate presidential tradition, as presidents scramble after ignoring this crucial power for most of their time in office. That is how we ended
up with Bill Clinton unloading 140 pardons on his last day in office, including one to the wholly undeserving Marc Rich, a fugitive financier; George W. Bush wrecking his relationship with
Dick Cheney by refusing at the last minute to give a full pardon to Scooter Libby, Mr. Cheney’s chief of staff, for obstructing a federal investigation; and Donald Trump issuing pardons to
undeserving cronies and celebrities.
President Biden has granted 25 pardons and commuted the sentences of 131 other people, according to the most recent Justice Department data. That is a mere 1.4 percent of the petitions he has
received, based on our analysis. No modern U.S. president, going back to Richard Nixon, has had a rate so low; though of course, Mr. Biden is still in office.
In addition, he has granted pardons by proclamation to people convicted of the possession and “simple use” of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, and to about 2,000
veterans who were convicted of engaging in gay sex under a military code that outlawed the behavior for more than 60 years. (Pardons by proclamation to a class of people are not included in
Justice Department data.)...
Hopefully, Mr. Biden will avoid the missteps made by some of his recent predecessors (particularly by Mr. Trump) and focus on the pending petitions filed by people who followed the rules and
submitted them through official channels [like Alert2020 does]. If there is a petition at the White House with a positive recommendation, it should be granted without further deliberation.
It has already run a gauntlet of review that included the U. S. attorney for the district where the petitioner was convicted, the U.S. Deputy Attorney General, the staff at the Domestic
Policy Council and the White House counsel. Isn’t that review enough?
Fair Sentencing/Retroactive Sentence Reductions 4,146 Orders Granted to date.
Elderly Offender Home Confinement 1,246. Approved to date.
First Step Act Releases 38,070 granted to date.
Compassionate Releases/Reduction in Sentences 4,755 granted to date.
Population in RRC’s 8,450.
Population in Home Confinement 4,837.
We believe that President Biden will be granting a lot of clemencies, commutations and pardons before the end of his term as part of his legacy. As such, we can help you file these documents and make a showing before Biden leaves office. It is anyone’s guess what will happen after the election. Alert2020 has also been successful in the past in having clemencies and commutations granted. If you are interested regarding these remedies, please contact us ASAP because time is running out.
Our new FREE LOOK program ONLY for methamphetamine cases ended on July 3, 2024. We are finishing up our long list, but now we are only calling those who qualify. We suggest that as an alternative you opt for a detailed in-depth Written Case Evaluation (“WCE”) for all remedies available. Those are completed in writing within 3 to 5 days.
For the last 30 years, we have been very successful. We can help on direct appeals, 2255 motions, 2241 Petitions, First Step Act and Compassionate
Release Motions, Earned Time Credits, DC Superior Court Petitions, State Post Conviction, Clemencies and Pardons and other specialized motions to mention a few avenues for relief we cover.
The WCE is an excellent low cost tool to see what can be done for you at any stage of the proceedings. It is thorough and detailed from day one of your case to present with our
recommendations of any remedies available to gain relief.
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.