Two New Criminal Law Opinions from SCOTUS

The U.S. Supreme Court issued five opinions today. Two have to do the with 42 USC 1983 (Pearson v. Callahan, 07-751, a qualified immunity case, and Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee, et al., 07-1125, holding that Title IX is not the exclusive method for seeking a remedy is a sex discrimination case). There was also a case involving whether a public sector union may include in non-members' agency fees costs for litigation outside the bargaining unit. (It can, if certain conditions are present.) Locke v. Karass (07-610).

We split the card in the two criminal cases, with one per curium win and the other a 6-3 loss.


First, the good news. In Spears v. United States (08-5721), a sentencing guidelines case, the Court granted review and reversed the opinion of the Circuit Court under Kimbrough v. U.S., 552 U.S. ___(2008). The Court clarifies that "district courts are entitled to reject and vary categorically from the crack cocaine Guidelines based upon a policy disagreement with those Guidelines." (Emphasis mine.) http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/08-5721.pdf

In Waddington v. Sarausad (07-772), a habeas case, the rulings of both the district court and the circuit court granting habeas relief were reversed. The Court held that the Washington Court's ruling that a jury instruction was not ambiguous and correctly stated the law was not an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law. Therefore, habeas relief was not available. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-772.pdf

Justice Souter shows how the jury instruction was ambiguous, how the prosecutor used it to argue in closing an erroneous theory of accomplice liability and how even the Washington appellate courts were in conflict about the meaning of the instruction. All, alas, in dissent.