Tuesday, May 27, 2014

U.S. v. Guerrero-Jasso (9th Cir. - May 27, 2014)

Judge Berzon writes a good opinion.  She simultaneously authors a darn good concurrence.

The concurrence expansively discusses Ninth Circuit precedent and argues that the court went awry on a particular Apprendi issue.  It's a neat discourse.  One of the upsides of having very smart people on a court is that they can not only resolve particular cases, but also examine more broadly whether existing doctrine seems right and, if it's not, what went wrong (and when).

It seems pretty clear that Judge Berzon's going to call for en banc review.  Of her own opinion.

We'll see where that goes.