News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on February 26, 2016.

The unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia continues to dominate the national news this week.  USA Today reports that the high court appeared to be split in a 4-4 deadlock at oral argument of a criminal case involving the exclusionary rule on Monday; Orin Kerr has more analysis of the legal issue here.  President Obama made a guest post to SCOTUSblog where he explains that he takes his constitutional duty to appoint judges to the Supreme Court seriously, and vows to nominate someone to fill Scalia’s seat in the coming weeks.  The Washington Post reports that Scalia was in the company of “high-ranking members of an exclusive fraternity for hunters called the International Order of St. Hubertus” at the Cibolo Creek Ranch on the weekend of his death.  More news after the break: IRS Returns Man’s Life Savings.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the IRS has returned a North Carolina man’s life savings after confiscating the money via civil forfeiture in 2014.  Reportedly, the IRS suspected that Khalid “Ken” Quran, a business owner from Greenville, N.C., was concealing financial activity from the government by splitting large bank transactions into smaller ones.  Quran contended that he was simply making bank withdrawals in the amount necessary to run his business.  The IRS never charged Quran with a crime, but the report suggests that the return of his money nevertheless was an act of grace.  The Institute of Justice assisted Quran and has a report about the incident here. Eyewitness Identification.  [...]