Office of the Federal Public Defender
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News

Announcements and Law Updates

A comprehensive discussion of new Ninth Circuit cases, and of other new legal challenges and ideas, can be found on the Ninth Circuit blog. The Ninth Circuit blog contains Federal Defender Jon Sands' weekly Ninth Circuit summaries, interesting new defense challenges and theories posted by AFPDs David Porter and Steve Sady, and the “Case o’ The Week” memos by Federal Defender Steve Kalar. The Ninth Circuit blog is a useful starting place for the latest developments in federal criminal defense.

To search the Ninth Circuit blog use the white search box next to the orange "B," in the upper left hand corner of the site. Note that many blog entries have been tagged by Judge involved or by subject. Clicking on those tags will pull up all blog entries related to that tag entry.

CJA counsel are encouraged to comment on the blog postings – many new ideas have been fleshed out and enhanced by attorney commentary.

 

FPD efforts advocating for criminal justice reform in the new administration.

The FPD Guidelines Committee and the Legislative Committee have submitted to the Biden Administration a number of suggestions for immediate actions in his first 100 days.

Biden Administration Day One Actions: A list of day-one actions to take to address mass incarceration: 1) Avoid mandatory minimum sentences; 2) Suspend the machinery of death; 3) End mass immigration prosecutions; 4) Protect incarcerated people from COVID-19; 5) Reverse litigation positions that fuel mass incarceration; 6) End unnecessary pretrial detention.

Priority # 1: Immediately Reinstate and Expand Smart on Crime Charging Policies: Encourages Biden not to wait for legislation to make good on his promise to end mandatory minimums.

Federal Bail Priorities for the Biden-Harris Administration: Executive Branch Policies: Developed by Alison Siegler at U. Chi., a list of policies to immediately reduce pretrial incarceration.

Post-conviction Litigation in Non-Capital Cases: Developed by a national team of post-conviction lawyers, this memo explains litigation positions DOJ can immediately take to facilitate just outcomes in post-conviction litigation.

Reversing Litigation Positions that Fuel Mass Incarceration, Dec. 22, 2020: Identifies specific litigation positions related to the First Step Act that the administration could immediately shift.

Categories of Individuals for whom BOP should move for a Reduction-in-Sentence (Compassionate Release), Dec. 17, 2020: Developed in response to a specific query from the transition team, this list proposes categories of people for whom BOP could quickly move for compassionate release.

First 100 Days: Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis in Federal Detention, Jan. 7, 2020. A series of policies that could help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Federal Prisons.

How the BOP Can Reduce Unnecessary Incarceration through Administrative Action: Drafted by our BOP team in D. Oregon, this memo lays out existing BOP authorities, BOP’s failure to implement them properly, and proposals for how to improve.

 

Candis Mitchell