U. S. Supreme Court Happenings and Favorable Federal Circuit Opinions for the Week of September 2-6, 2024--

U. S. Supreme Court Happenings– Week ending September 6, 2024 –

The Court is currently in summer recess. Summer order lists were issued today, September 6, 2024. Summer order lists usually consist of actions taken by the Court on motions in pending cases, petitions for rehearing, and other miscellaneous matters. Emergency orders, such as in applications for stays, will continue to be released as required. Today’s list was one page without any thing of significance to our cause. The Term of the Court begins, by law, on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October of the next year. Each Term, approximately 5,000-7,000 new cases are filed in the Supreme Court. The Court typically disposes of about 100 or more cases without plenary review. The publication of each Term’s written opinions, including concurring opinions, dissenting opinions, and orders, can take up thousands of pages. During the drafting process, some opinions may be revised a dozen or more times before they are announced.

Favorable Federal Circuit Opinions for the Week of September 2-6, 2024 –

9th Circuit

United States v. Ovsepian, (No. 21-55515)(9th Cir. September 3, 2024)– 2024–On remand from the Supreme Court for further consideration in light of Dubin v. United States, 599 U.S. 110 (2023), the panel reversed the district court’s denial of Artak Ovsepian’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion and remanded. Ovsepian contended that he is factually innocent of aggravated identity theft. The panel held that a petitioner who was convicted at trial under a divisible statute must demonstrate actual innocence only with respect to the prong(s) for which the petitioner was actually tried and convicted. Because the offense for which Ovsepian was actually tried and convicted was unlawful possession of another’s means of identification during and in relation to a conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1), he need only show innocence as to “possession” to succeed in his § 2255 motion. In light of Dubin, the panel excused Ovseptian’s procedural default and concluded that the jury instructions used in his trial were erroneous because they did not convey that his “possession” of another’s identifying information must have been at the crux of the healthcare fraud to sustain a conviction of aggravated identity theft. Because no jury so instructed could find Ovsepian guilty of that offense on this record, the panel reversed the denial of the § 2255 motion and remanded with instructions to vacate Ovsepian’s conviction and sentence on the aggravated identity theft count.

Latest Bureau of Prison’s Statistics (From BOP Website):

Fair Sentencing/Retroactive Sentence Reductions 4,146 Orders Granted to date.
Elderly Offender Home Confinement 1,246. Approved to date.
First Step Act Releases 37,083 granted to date.
Compassionate Releases/Reduction in Sentences 4,750 granted to date.
Population in RRC’s 8,485.
Population in Home Confinement 4,947.

COMMENT:

Another short Holiday week usually leads to a lack of positive federal precedent cases and a short newsletter. This is the case again this week. Hopefully, it will pick up next week. We are now less than a week from the opening of the next term of the Supreme Court of the United States.

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