Department of Justice Once Again Proves Its Loyalty to the President, Not the Rule of Law

AUSTIN SARAT

Austin Sarat—Associate Provost, Associate Dean of the Faculty, and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College—comments on the recent news that the Justice Department will seek dismissal of charges against Michael Flynn. Sarat suggests that because the decision does not seem to advance the fair administration of justice in this case, the court should take the unusual step of refusing to grant the prosecutor’s motion to dismiss.

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State v. Garland

Docket: A19-0240

Opinion Date: May 6, 2020

Judge: Thissen

Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for first-degree murder and second-degree murder but reversed the sentence in part, holding that the district court erred by entering a formal adjudication on both first-degree murder and second-degree murder but any other error in the proceedings below was harmless. Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) any error the district court may have made by declining to hold an evidentiary hearing regarding the admissibility of DNA evidence was harmless, and the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Defendant's motion to exclude the DNA evidence; (2) Defendant was not prejudiced by alleged prosecutorial misconduct; and (3) the district court erred by entering a formal adjudication on both first-degree murder and second-degree murder in its sentencing order, and therefore, the cause must be remanded to the district court to correct the error.