When a felon is released from federal prison, it is often for supervised release. This means that he lives at home, but there is a probation officer who monitors him and makes sure he complies with the terms of his release. If he was convicted of robbing a jewelry store, perhaps a term is that […]
Category Archives: Federal Appeals
The United States Sentencing Guidelines use a point system to determine the sentencing range for federal convictions. These points can aggravate (increase) a sentence or mitigate (decrease) a sentence. Acceptance of responsibility, for instance, results in a several point reduction of the offense level, which means a lower sentencing range for the judge to consider. […]
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over the federal districts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. In almost all cases, a would-be appellant cannot initiate a case in this court until he has received a final judgment within the district court. […]
A defendant who wishes to appeal a criminal conviction must inform the court of his intention by filing a notice of appeal. The notice of appeal sets into motion deadlines for various other events, leading up to the deadline to file the appellate brief. While this deadline may be extended as necessary (for more information […]
Where a prisoner believes that his incarceration violates federal law, he may petition for a writ of federal habeas corpus, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Federal habeas petitions are often filed as a lest resort after a prisoner has exhausted all other potential remedies. In order to be considered, a federal habeas petition must […]