Recent Opinions

On April 2, 2012, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington in which it examined the constitutional limitations on searches conducted by corrections officers of new inmates at a jail or prison. In Florence, the Court affirmed earlier case law in which it held that corrections officers are permitted to devise reasonable search policies to detect and deter the possession of contraband in correctional facilities. Absent “substantial evidence in the record to indicate that the officials have exaggerated their response to these considerations,” courts should ordinarily defer to the officers’ expert judgment in such matters. In so holding, the Court rejected Albert Florence’s proposal that new detainees not arrested for serious crimes or for offenses involving weapons or drugs be exempt from invasive searches unless they give officers a particular reason to suspect them of hiding contraband. The Court held that his proposal would be unworkable. The search conducted twice on Mr. Florence was associated with his arrest and subsequent detention for allegedly having failed to show up for a hearing involving non-payment of a court fine. The outstanding warrant was the basis of Mr. Florence’s arrest. The warrant, however, should have been removed, because Mr. Florence had properly paid the fine. The case before the Supreme Court was part of Mr. Florence’s federal lawsuit brought against various governmental entities and corrections officials for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Florence v Board of Chosen Freeholders, 10-945

On March 21, 2012, the Supreme Court decided two cases in which it found, by a 5-4 vote, that the standards of ineffective assistance of counsel (set forth earlier in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)) apply to the plea bargaining stage of a case.  In so holding, the Court found that counsel was ineffective when in one case (Lafler v. Cooper), the defendant chose to reject a plea offer based on incorrect advice given by counsel about a legal rule in the case, went instead to trial and lost, and then received a significantly greater sentence; and in another case (Missouri v. Frye),  the defendant lost the opportunity to plead to a misdemeanor because counsel never shared with the defendant the plea offer before it lapsed, thereby leading the defendant to plead to a felony charge with a higher sentence.  In his dissent, Justice Scalie bemoaned that the Court’s opinions would create a “whole new field of constitutionalized criminal procedure: plea-bargaining law.”  Lafler v Cooper, 10-209 and Missouri v Frye, 10-444

On February 21, 2012, the Supreme Court Howes v. Fields reversed the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by holding that an interrogation of an inmate that lasted from five to seven hours, took place in a conference room within the confines of the prison, and concerned criminal activity outside of the prison was not in all instances a custodial interrogation requiring Miranda warnings.  In its holding, the Supreme Court made clear that it was rejecting a categorical rule that such interrogations are custodial per se. Howes v Fields, 10-680

On Monday, January 23, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in United States v. Jones that the installation of a GPS device on a vehicle was a search under the Fourth Amendment.  In this case, a search warrant was obtained, but law enforcement did not follow the deadline by which the device was to be installed (the court gave them 10 days to install it, but it was installed on the 11th day after the warrant was obtained) and did not follow the geographic restriction in the warrant (the device was to be installed in the District of Columbia, but it was installed in Maryland). Justice Scalia wrote the opinion for the Court, but significant discussion has already occurred over the opinion written by Justice Alito concurring in the judgment.  There are numerous indications in both opinions that the broader area of new technology being used by law enforcement, particularly in searches, will be receiving renewed judicial attention in the near future. United States v. Jones, 10-1259

For Additional US Supreme Court Case Information:  United States Supreme Court 2011 Term Opinions