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"A Good Day for Judicial Discretion" (though I would say "Equitable Principles")

By Douglas A. Berman

The first part of the title of this post is the headline of this intriguing New York Times editorial discussing some of the Supreme Court's rulings yesterday.  Here is how the piece starts and ends: Equity is an elusive legal concept that occasionally allows some leeway in applying the rules of the law and is often unappreciated by judges who insist the law means only what it says. That was clear in 2008 when the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit refused to allow federal courts to consider a death-penalty conviction of Albert Holland because his lawyer had inexcusably let the filing deadline pass.  Fortunately, seven members of the Supreme Court proved less rigid in their thinking on Monday and reversed that blinkered decision...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 15, 2010 (boomark / email).