Monday, December 05, 2011

U.S. v. Grant (9th Cir. - Dec. 5, 2011)

A guy walks into a sushi bar . . . .

But the guy walking in is Grant's parole officer.  And Grant's not allowed to drink alcohol, but has ordered a large glass of sake.

So this joke ends with Grant getting two years in federal prison.

Grant ultimately gets a reversal from the Ninth Circuit, which was required due to the Supreme Court's recent decision in Tapia.  Plus he got bail on appeal, so things are breaking (reasonably) well for Mr. Grant.  Assuming he continues to avoid that particular sushi bar and his penchant for rule-breaking.

Plus, in footnote 35, he gets to see a quote from James Q. Wilson.  Which is a first for the Ninth Circuit, and only the third time that any federal appellate court has ever done so.  The last two times being over 15 years ago.

Which may tell you a little bit about the state of contemporary criminal law jurisprudence.