Janice’s Journal: Hope on the Horizon?

Is there hope on the horizon?  The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in Nichols v. United States, a case that pitted the federal government against a registrant who left the state of Kansas in order to move permanently to the Philippines.  The government argued before the Court that the registrant violated the law by failing to notify Kansas of his departure before he actually departed. That argument is not hope.  Instead, hope came in the form of pointed questions and statements made by several Supreme Court justices during…

Read More

SCOTUS: Justices on both sides invoke Scalia in sentencing case

WASHINGTON — The late Justice Antonin Scalia’s writing turned up in dueling Supreme Court opinions Tuesday, a fitting tribute to the justice who co-authored an entire book on interpreting the law. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan both invoked the book Scalia wrote with Bryan Garner in 2012 in a case over a lengthy prison term for a man convicted of possessing child pornography. Full Article

Read More

SCOTUS: Justices skeptical about government’s interpretation of sex-offender-registration law (Analysis)

In the early days of Monday Night Football, as soon as it became evident that the game was effectively over, color commentator “Dandy” Don Meredith would begin to croon, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over . . . .” During the government’s argument in Tuesday’s hearing in Nichols v. United States, the lights in the courtroom actually went out. And, if the Justices’ hostile questioning of the government’s lawyer provides any clue, the party may indeed be over. After Daniel Hansmeier, the federal public defender representing petitioner Lester Ray…

Read More