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Incoming Biden Administration Signals Increase of Criminal Prosecutions for Environmental Violations

The incoming Biden administration is expected to increase criminal prosecutions under the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, as well as rollback prior administration directives that prioritized “compliance assistance” over seeking civil or criminal penalties. The Biden administration has also announced its intention to establish an Environmental and ClimateJustice Division to help the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resource Department investigate and prosecute violators of environmental laws and regulations.

Updated Compilation of Compassionate Release Grants

Updated September 27, 2021 – The Compilation has been updated to include cases involving inmates that have already been vaccinated or refuse to get vaccinated and cases where an inmate has been granted compassionate release while on home confinement. Attorney Tom Church has compiled a list of Compassionate Release grants and some of the key […]

SCOTUS Declines to Determine Fourth Amendment Standard For Border Searches, Leaving Circuit Split Intact

The U.S. Supreme Court denied ceriorari to a petitioner seeking the Court’s determination as to what standard applies to Fourth Amendment searches at the U.S. border. The Court’s decision not to step in leaves in place a circuit split between courts that hold no probable cause or reasonable suspicion is required for law enforcement to conduct searches and those that hold there must at least be some degree of reasonable suspicion.

Fourth Circuit becomes Fourth US Court of Appeals to Hold Courts Have Independent Discretion to Reduce Inmates’ Sentences

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals became the fourth appellate circuit to hold that district courts reviewing an inmate’s motion for sentence reduction under 3582(c)(1)(A) have the independent discretion to determine if there are “extraordinary and compelling reasons” warranting the requested reduction. The Fourth Circuit joins the Second, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits in recognizing district courts’ broad discretion when reviewing requests for sentence reductions and compassionate release.

Sixth and Seventh Circuits Hold Courts Have Broad Discretion to Determine Inmate Eligibility for Compassionate Release

The Sixth Circuit and Seventh Circuit have joined the Second Circuit in holding that district courts considering motions for sentence reductions under 18 USC 3582(c)(1)(A) can exercise their discretion in determining whether an inmate has presented “extraordinary and compelling reasons” warranting a sentence modification.

Election Results: “What Biden’s Win Means for the Future of Criminal Justice”

The Marshall Project has published a helpful primer of President-Elect Joe Biden’s Criminal Justice Platform, which, if enacted, would be the most progressive criminal justice agenda in U.S. history. The article focuses on the areas of mandatory minimum sentences, cash bail, the death penalty, eliminating private prisons, and other areas.

Election Results: States Continuing to Roll Back the War on Drugs

Voters in Oregon voted to decriminalize hard drugs like cocaine and heroin while providing significant funding for treatment. Voters in Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota passed measures reforming marijuana laws, including recreational and medical marijuana.

Feds Allege Big Increase in PPP Loan Fraud

Government officials and public data indicate there has been a dramatic increase in investigations and prosecutions of “PPP Loan Fraud,” including over 500 investigations and 73 criminal prosecutions. The Wall Street Journal reports in detail how Congress created the program to facilitate quick relief to businesses by allowing business’s to “self-certify” their need for PPP loans, and how the federal government has aggressively pursued businesses they suspect of committing PPP loan fraud by identifying certain business activities as “suspicious.”

DOJ Announces U.S. Imprisonment Rate Lowest Since 1995

The Department of Justice recently put out a press release stating that the total incarceration rate of state and federal inmates in 2019, at 419 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents, was the lowest the incarceration rate has been since 1995. The press release discusses the gradual increase in the incarceration rate since the 1990s and breaks down the changing trends by race and by type of crime. Given the number of inmates released during the COVID-19 pandemic, this number may continue to decrease, at least in the short term.

Criminal Justice Reform on the 2020 Ballot

The Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University has compiled a list of criminal justice ballot measures in the 2020 election, by state and by type of reform, to inform voters of what drug reform initiatives or criminal justice reforms are on the ballot in their states. The article lists, for example, Arizona as the only state where possession of any amount of marijuana is a felony and where voters can vote to legalize recreational weed after the initiative barely failed in 2016. The article also lists measures in California to allow certain felons to vote and reform cash bail. Oregon, on the other hand, will have a ballot measure giving residents the power to decriminalize possession of any kind of drug.

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