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Northern District of Georgia Stephanie Kearns, Executive Director
100 Peachtree Street, Suite 1700, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 404-688-7530, 404-688-0768 (fax) |
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Federal Defender Program, Inc. |
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NDGA Defender Blog |
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Eleventh Circuit Developments: The Eleventh Circuit Criminal Defense Blog maintained by the Federal Defender for the Southern District of Florida provides daily updates of Eleventh Circuit decisions. Kish & Lietz’s Federal Criminal Lawyer Blog is also highly recommended as a source for developments.
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Please let us know of any developing issues that should be noted here so that we can keep everyone in the loop and continue to raise the bar of representation in this district!
An INTERACTIVE blogsite is under development for Northern District of Georgia Practitioners. Look for it by the end of January 2010! The National Federal Defender website has a wealth of information for attorneys representing indigent defendants in federal criminal cases: We highly recommend WWW.FD.ORG. Check it out. |
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December 14, 2009: Child Pornography Restitution Claims Update
12/14/2009: UPDATE: The first district court judge in the Northern District of Georgia to address a child pornography restitution claim has denied imposition because the defendant’s actions were not the proximate cause of the victim’s harms. See order to come in N.D.Ga. 2:08-CR-042-WCO-CSSC. There are at least two other cases in the pipeline: 1:08-CR-311-MHS (pending) and 3:08-CR-005-JTC-LTW (referred to magistrate). Feel free to examine pleadings in these cases if you have access to PACER.
12/9/2009: UPDATE: There is a new order denying restitution in a child pornography case which will be published. It is important because there was evidence taken from both sides and the judge found proximate cause lacking. The new order is found below in the Paroline case.
11/12/2009: Be aware that the Government has started seeking restitution against defendants convicted of child pornography possession and distribution offenses on behalf of several known child victims who have filed restitution claims in our cases. This is happening around the country. Most of the claims currently known are still at the district court level. Following are a collection of several cases which we know of which have ruled on these claims:
United States v. Vanbrackle, N.D.Ga., 2:08-CR-042-WCO-SSC (denying restitution because victims injuries not proximately caused by defendant). United States v. Berk, D.Maine, 08-CR-212-P-S (order denying restitution request). United States v. Cook, D. Alaska, 4:08-CR-0024 (order denying restitution request). United States v. Zane, E.D.Ca, 1:08-CR-0369 (order granting restitution). United States v. Paroline, E.D.Tx, 6:08-CR-61 (order denying restitution).
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Supreme Court Developments: There is a wonderful United States Supreme Court Review—Preview—Overview which is maintained by Paul Rashkind, Chief of the Appellate Division for the Federal Defender in the Southern District of Florida. The Supreme Court blog, aka Scotusblog is also a great source for information on current issues. You can find information on current circuit splits at the splitcircuits.blogspot.com.
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Law Enforcements Websites: You should also be aware that many of the federal law enforcement agencies have interesting websites: FBI, FBI (Local), ATF, US Postal Service, the Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigations, the GBI, the DEA, and the Department of Justice. |
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Sentencing: For new practitioners, there is a very comprehensive Introduction to Federal Sentencing by Henry Bemporad out of the Western District of Texas. Professor Doug Berman’s Sentencing Law and Policy is an excellent sentencing blog for developing issues. Stay current on developments from the United States Sentencing Commission at their website, WWW.USSC.GOV. 12/9/2009: FYI - There is an online federal sentencing guidelines calculator that was done by a private individual named Josh Goldfoot. As noted by Mr. Goldfoot’s website itself, the website is not a substitute for good legal advice and research, but it is a helpful tool to use in addition to your own research when trying to make a thoughtful and professional estimate of a client’s guidelines. Click here to go to the Goldfoot’s Free Online Federal Sentencing Calculator. |
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Don Samuel’s Favorable and Noteworthy Decisions in the Supreme Court and the Federal Appellate Courts. Over one thousand pages of Important and helpful decisions from Don Samuel for your briefing pleasure! |
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Sex Offender Treatment and Guidelines:
If you are interested in the criteria and guidelines for the sex offender treatment program at the SMART website: click here for link to the website. |
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December 15, 2009: Local Rules Change The Local Criminal Rules for the Northern District of Georgia have changed. Motion filing deadlines have been affected in that the new 14 day deadline includes weekends and holidays. In addition, you can now request only 14 additional days for the filing of motions for good cause. Click the link above to review the rules as currently constituted.
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December 16, 2009: A Great Stocking Stuffer? “The Code” by Parag Shah is a concise, 4 inch by 6 inch, 240-page pocketbook version of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia. It is handy to have in the courtroom for both state and federal practitioners for a quick look at statutory elements and penalties. There are also some annotations with useful information. Just $25.00. Click here for the free online version.
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