How the Killing of George Floyd by Police Sparked Nationwide Protests and Calls for Systematic Change
by Christopher Zoukis, MBA
“If one of us is not free, none of us are free.”
– Max Mills and Ayesha Muzaffar, Co-Chairs, Students Against Mass Incarceration, University of California, Davis School of Law ...
by Christopher Zoukis
How do rogue forensic scientists and other bad cops thrive in our criminal justice system? The simple answer is that some prosecutors turn a blind eye to such misconduct because they’re more interested in gaining a conviction than achieving a just result. — Judge Alex Kozinski, U.S. ...
How a Judiciary Poisoned by Politics, Ideology, and Unaccountability Contributes to the Wrongful Conviction of Innocent Men and Women
by Christopher Zoukis, MBA
Alexander Hamilton said in Federalist Paper No. 78 that the judiciary “may truly be said to have neither force nor will but merely judgment.” Because the judiciary ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The Supreme Court of Hawaii, in ruling that a criminal defendant’s enhanced sentence violated the U.S. Constitution, has come on board with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). The opinion by Hawaii’s high court put an end ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas reversed a trial court’s refusal to grant a criminal defendant a formal competency evaluation, finding that the trial court and court of appeals erred by improperly considering evidence and applying the incorrect evidentiary standard. Unfortunately for the potentially incompetent defendant, ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The Supreme Court of Idaho ruled that a brief, single incident of crossing the outer line in a lane of travel (“fog line”) does not amount to a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the law was violated. The Court upheld a lower court’s order suppressing evidence found following ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The Supreme Court of Louisiana affirmed a court of appeals determination that a trial court erred when it denied a Batson challenge to the State striking one of two black jurors from a criminal trial panel because the trial court rejected the State’s first reason for ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a defendant previously convicted of aggravated sexual battery in Tennessee should not have been classified as a Tier III sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). The June 8, 2018, opinion vacated ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a prisoner’s sentence because the district court improperly found that Georgia robbery qualified the defendant for the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines career offender designation. The Court sent the case back to the lower court for resentencing.
In 1992, ...
by Christopher Zoukis
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated a drug defendant’s sentence because the district court may have misinterpreted United States Sentencing Guideline (“USSG”) § 3B1.2 and Amendment 794, which allow a court to make a Guidelines adjustment when a defendant played a minor ...
