Jurist

Supreme Court rules plain error exists if it was plain at the time of appeal

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] 6-3 in Henderson v. United States [JURIST report] that an error is “plain” within the ...
Jurist

Henderson v. US and the Plain Error Rule: Metaphysics, Unicorns and Injustice

JURIST Guest Columnist Norman Reimer, the Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, argues that there should be a universal rule for deciding which law should be used ...
SCOTUSblog

Argument recap: Trying to discern a timing rule for a rule that says nothing about timing

The oral argument last Wednesday in Henderson v. United States revealed perhaps more about how the Justices themselves debate than the normal case where oral argument sometimes degrades into a ...
SCOTUSblog

Train wreck avoided: Plain errors may be corrected even when “plain” only on appeal

When a criminal defendant’s sentence is plainly unlawful in light of an intervening Supreme Court decision, is “plain error” correction prohibited under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b) ...
Montgomery Advertiser

Alabama Supreme Court limits review of errors in death row cases; advocacy groups concerned

The Alabama Supreme Court last week reversed longstanding Alabama law requiring appellate courts to review “plain errors” in death penalty cases. Advocacy groups strongly criticized the ruling and ...