MCLE is presenting a program Tuesday, April 30 from 4-6 pm at the Moakley Courthouse on civil and criminal federal practice and procedure.  Presenters include federal district court judges and magistrates and experienced federal practitioners.  Find out more here.

On Wednesday, April 17  at the Moakley Courthouse there will be a discussion on subconcious bias featuring Charles Ogletree.  For more information and to RSVP, click here.

In United States v. Wu, the First Circuit found the failure to instruct the jury on an element  not harmless in a case involving exportation of items restricted under the United States Munitions List.   The district court instructed the jury that it could not consider the appropriateness of the State Department’s determination that the items belonged on the list, […]

The Boston Bar Association and Federal Bar Association are sponsoring a program on criminal and civil practice before the federal magistrate judges.  It will take place on March 28, from 4-6pm at the Moakley Courthouse.  To get more details and RSVP, click the program here.

On petition for mandamus, the First Circuit has ordered in In Re James Bulger that Judge Stearns recuse himself from the Bulger case.  The Court ruled that a reasonable person would question the capacity for impartiality of any judicial officer with the judge’s background in the Boston federal prosecutorial apparatus during the period covered by the accusations against Bulger.

In United States v. Almeida, the First Circuit has vacated a sentence imposed under the robbery guidelines where the indictment charged a burglary rather than a robbery.  There was conflicting evidence at trial whether the defendant threatened a bank teller or whether the teller was actually involved in the theft.  The district court declared that the […]

Members of the defense bar have been invited to attend a breakfast sponsored by the Federal Bar Association and featuring Chief Judge Saris on March 19, 2013.  Judge Saris, who also chairs the Sentencing Commission, will be discussing the November 2012 guideline amendments.  The event is free to all.

EDNY Judge Gleeson issued an informative memorandum and order on the efficacy of federal pre-sentence drug courts, described in the recent New York Times article mentioned below.  The order gives an account of, among other things, a case in which a defendant charged in a 13-kilo case participated in a drug court, which resulted in dismissal of the […]

On March 2, the New York Times published an article on federal pre-trial drug courts across the country.  Read it here.