by John E. Dannenberg
The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dealt a blow to New York state sex offenders when it ruled that in spite of an earlier suit and settlement agreement constraining sex offender registration procedures consistent with earlier laws, new and harsher registration laws enacted by New ...
By John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeal held that when a prisoner is ordered to pay a restitution fine to the State Restitution Fund, rather than directly to the victim, no administrative fee is authorized.
Juan Eddards II was convicted of battery and assault with great bodily injury ...
California Prisoner Entitled to Parole "Gate Money" Even if Release is to a Hold for Sexually Violent Predator Evaluation
By John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeal held that when a state prisoner is released upon completion of his sentence, but is detained in county jail on a hold ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeal held that because California’s 1996 voter-approved Medical Marijuana Program Act (Proposition 115) permits a citizen to possess marijuana for medical use, bringing such approved marijuana into jail could not be punished as a felony under Penal Code § 4573.5 (which generally ...
by John E. Dannenberg
In a landmark ruling upholding provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) that permit specially convened three-judge federal court panels to order reductions in state prison populations due to overcrowding (18 U.S.C. § 3626(a)(3)), a bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, affirmed ...
by John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, vacated Governor Schwarzenegger’s reversal of a murderer’s grant of parole and reinstated parole. A majority of the court found that there was no evidence showing that the prisoner’s crime demonstrated his current dangerousness; a concurring justice rejected this test, ...
Tenth Circuit Follows Jones v. Bock, Reverses Full-Exhaustion Predicate in § 1983 Cases
by John E. Dannenberg
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals realigned its jurisprudence to comport with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Jones v. Bock, 127 S.Ct. 910 (2007) [see: PLN, May 2007, p.36], which held ...
by John E. Dannenberg
In a major victory for California lifers, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a second-degree murderer who had done 27 years on a 15-life sentence was denied federal due process when the Governor reversed the Board Of Prison Terms’ (Board) grant of parole. ...
By John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeal ordered the California Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) to conduct a new parole hearing for a second-degree murderer within 30 days, wherein they were required to set his parole date.
Ronald Singler has been incarcerated since 1982 for the second-degree murder ...
By John E. Dannenberg
The California Court of Appeal (1st District) held that an indigent pro per prisoner plaintiff who is prosecuting a bona fide civil complaint is entitled to meaningful access to the courts. In so holding, the court reversed the summary judgment below against the prisoner because it ...
