Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

In 2005, Martinez, Vallejo, and 47 others were indicted for crimes committed while they were members of the Milwaukee chapter of the Latin Kings gang organization. Martinez and Vallejo pled guilty to a RICO offense, 18 U.S.C. 1962, and admitted to engaging in predicate racketeering activities, including a 2003 murder. Vallejo, who was 17 years old at the time, and Martinez, who was 16, each fired several shots at the victim. Martinez also pled guilty to attempted murder of a rival gang member; Vallejo’s plea agreement included two attempted murders. All of the attempted murders occurred while the defendants were under the age of 18. In both cases, the court imposed the “maximum sentence”—life in prison.. Neither Martinez nor Vallejo filed a direct appeal. In 2012, the Supreme Court held, in Miller v. Alabama, that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the imposition of a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for juveniles. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of their motion to vacate, set aside, or correct their sentences under 28 U.S.C. 2255. Martinez and Vallejo’s life sentences were imposed after an individualized sentencing, and not by statutory mandate,and did not violate Miller. View "Vallejo v. United States" on Justia Law

Mullins lived in apartment 2 in the complex behind the BigFoot Lounge in Rockford, Illinois. Mullins and Washington (called “T”) used Mullins’s apartment as a stash house for their cocaine and marijuana distribution operation. Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputy Boomer submitted an affidavit and obtained a search warrant for Mullins’s apartment. The affidavit stated that a confidential informant had told members of the Narcotics Unit that a black male known as T was selling cocaine and marijuana in the area, was storing the drugs in an apartment behind the BigFoot Lounge, and drove a black Cadillac Escalade with Minnesota registration 161EKT when he delivered drugs. Deputy Boomer reported that he had seen the Cadillac Escalade with Minnesota registration 161EKT in the parking lot of the apartment building behind the lounge. The affidavit also described surveillance by the Narcotics Unit and controlled drug buy. Deputies executed the warrant, recovering 626 grams of marijuana, 16 grams of powder cocaine, more than 150 grams of crack cocaine, drug packaging materials, digital scales, and mail addressed to Mullins. The Seventh Circuit affirmed his convictions under 21 U.S.C. 846 and 841(a)(1) and 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), upholding denial of Mullins’s motion to suppress and his request for a Franks hearing. Factual inaccuracies in the warrant affidavit were immaterial to the probable cause determination. View "United States v. Mullins" on Justia Law