Under 28 U.S.C. § 2, The Supreme Court shall hold at the seat of government a term of court commencing on the first Monday in October of each year and may hold such adjourned or special terms as may be necessary. Today is the first Monday in October, and so is the first day of October Term 2011. Most readers probably know that there's a huge warrantless GPS tracking case on tap. (That's United States v. Jones, scheduled for oral argument on November 8; you can read more about the case here.) But there are several other interesting and significant criminal cases on the docket. Here's a sampling, including the question presented and the oral argument date for each case. 1. Martinez v. Ryan (oral argument scheduled for October 4) Whether a defendant in a state criminal case who is prohibited by state law from raising on direct appeal any claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, but who has a state-law right to raise such a claim in a first post-conviction proceeding, has a federal constitutional right to effective assistance of first post-conviction counsel specifically with respect to his ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim. 2. Howes v. Fields (oral argument scheduled for October 4) Whether this Court's clearly established precedent under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 holds that a prisoner is always "in custody" for purposes of Miranda any time that prisoner is isolated from the general prison population and questioned about conduct occurring outside the prison regardless of the surrounding circumstances. 3. Lafler [...]
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