Supreme Court announces Second Amendment applies to the States

Today, the Supreme Court announced that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is applicable to the States. (McDonald v.Chicago, 08-16521 (2010)). The 5-4 ruling, which relies on District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S.____ (2008), reverses the Seventh Circuit's finding that restriction of an individual's right to keep and bear arms was not violative of the Second or Fourteenth Amendments. The opinion provides an exhaustive legislative review of post-Civil War regulations drafted to prohibit freed slaves from possessing firearms and the state-created limitations that were subsequently approved.

-RCS

High Profile Visitors Convene at the Russell Building for the Swearing In Ceremony of Sally Yates as United States Attorney

Sally Q. Yates was officially sworn in today as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia after remarks from past United States Attorneys from this district as well as the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder.  Chief Judge Julie E. Carnes presided over the ceremony and administered the oath.  Reverend Joseph Lowery and Congressman John Lewis attended the event along with numerous judges and other dignitaries from all over the state.  Sally is the first female United States Attorney for this district.  The bible was held by her husband, Comer Yates, and their children.

New Atlanta FDP Attorney Morad Fakhimi Honored by the National Association of Federal Defenders as the Outstanding Research Attorney of the Year!

Morad Fakhimi joined the Atlanta Federal Defender Program, Inc. as a Staff Attorney last month after having worked in both the Macon and Montgomery Federal Defender offices.  Morad worked primarily as an appellate attorney for the past 24 months in the Middle District of Georgia.  In this capacity, Morad wrote thousands of pages of briefs and became extremely well versed in appellate advocacy.  We were proud to have him become a colleague in Atlanta in May and we congratulate him on this high honor on the national defender stage.

-SK

Confrontation Clause violation requires reversal

On Tuesday, June 8, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront the state's cooperating witness was violated when the state trial court limited the scope of defense counsel's cross-examination. In Childers v. Floyd, 08-15590, the cooperating witness, whose sentence was being reduced from 125 years in prison to 18 months, began to alter his testimony on matters defense counsel deemed crucial to his defense. Although the trial court allowed defense counsel to cross-examine the witness on several inconsistent statements, he was prohibited from fully exploring his motive for amending his previous testimony. The panel emphasized "...the particular importance of searching cross-examination of witnesses who have substantial incentive to cooperate with the prosecution...and [the] heightened need for full cross-examination to unearth possible bias."

-RCS