University of Wisconsin Law School Federal Appeals Project

11/17/2015

The Federal Appeals Project world tour continues with the lesser known third federal courthouse in Wisconsin

11/16/2015

Criminal, a podcast that looks at issues in the criminal justice system from various perspectives, focuses their latest episode on reverse stash house sting operations. This tactic, used by the ATF, has been the subject of significant controversy in Chicago, California, and Florida.

In 2005, Danny Egipciaco had the opportunity to participate in a robbery of a drug supplier's stash house. He was told he'd take home between $100K-200K. In the end, the robbery never happened, so why

11/11/2015

It turns out your confidential legal calls with your confined client may not be so confidential after all.

The exposure of millions of phone records across dozens of states sheds light on the dubious claims and practices of Securus Technologies.

11/07/2015

Federal Appeals Project Nationwide Tour Continues

10/22/2015

Greetings from the Eastern District of Tennessee! Federal Appeals Project Field Trip

08/04/2015

Drones have presented a new threat to the work of keeping contraband out of prisons

Cellphones and drugs are among the forbidden items making their way to inmates in a high-tech version of smuggling a file in a birthday cake.

07/16/2015

Today, President Obama will become the first sitting president to visit a federal prison when he visits FCI-El Reno, a medium security institution, in Oklahoma

With 18 months left in office, the president has embarked on a new effort to reduce sentences for nonviolent offenders and to revamp prison life.

06/23/2015

Far too often, individuals spend days, months, and even over a year in prison without ever being convicted of a crime.

A broken bail system makes poor defendants collateral damage in modern policing strategies

06/22/2015

Though the issue was not the direct legal issue before the Court, Justice Kennedy issued a strong opinion about the use of solitary confinement.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy , in an unusual separate opinion in a case wrote that it may be time for judges to limit the use of long-term solitary confinement in prisons.

06/03/2015

Every sentence has ripple effects, starting at the individual, then reaching their family and friends, and eventually the community at large. For non-violent offenders, those ripples are often waves.

This recent NPR piece, which provide a mini-profile on the new Deputy Attorney General, Sally Yates, has a headline and some quotes that might be effectively utilized by defense attorneys to argue that any unduly long federal prison sentence damages national public safety. The piece is headlined "N…

04/22/2015

A great analysis of Johnson v. United States, in which the constitutionality of the residual clause of the ACCA (and perhaps the career offender guideline) is at issue.

When the residual clause of the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”) first came before the Court in 2007 in James v. United States, Justice Scalia called it “shoddy draftsmanship” and a “drafting failure” of Congress. In four subsequent cases, all members of the Court expressed the

04/20/2015

The Supreme Court heard additional argument today in a case that features a broad and oft interpreted law that could have implications for many federal inmates.

The Supreme Court scrutinized a legacy of the tough-on-crime 1980s Monday, with several justices at oral argument saying the Armed Career Criminal Act made it too easy for prosecutors to boost sentences based on minor prior crimes.