With no new EDCA jury trials starting up this week, here's what's happening in other federal courts:
The Supreme Court granted cert in three cases today, two involving criminal justice issues, as summarized in the SCOTUS Blog. The Barber v. Thomas case should resolve a circuit court split on how to calculate federal good time custody credits and might result in defendants receiving up to seven more days of good time credits a year.
Prosecutors are worrying how an upcoming Supreme Court decision might jeopardize their prosecution of former Illinois governor Rod Blogojevic: Chicago Tribune, 11/30/09.
A Blogger charged with inciting violence on federal judges says he was a paid FBI informant in a case that is set to go to trial in federal court in New York on Tuesday: New York Times, 11/30/09.
Debate among federal jurists over child porn sentences is the topic of this 11/29/09 Denver Post piece entitled "Federal Judges Argue for Reduced Sentences for Child Porn Convicts."
And the Ninth affirmed the defendant's convictions and sentence last week in U.S. v. Amr Mohsen. Ninth Circuit Blog, Case of the Week. Although a NDCA case, this case was tried by EDCA Judge William B. Shubb after all the NDCA district judges recused themselves when the U.S. Attorney's Office there charged the defendant with solicitation to kill a NDCA judge (which the defendant was ultimately acquitted of by the jury).