Gorsuch protests Supreme Court granting government ‘powerful’ new prosecution tools

conviction on Thursday that was based on an expert who testified that gangs rarely use “blind mules” to move drugs across the southern border, prompting a striking dissent from Justice Neil Gorsuch.by Justice Clarence Thomas dismissed the argument that an expert witness for the prosecution had gone too far to describe defendant Delilah Guadalupe Diaz’s mindset when he said that most large-scale drug couriers were aware of what they were transporting.

“Prosecutors can now put an expert on the stand — someone who apparently has the convenient ability to read minds — and let him hold forth on what ‘most’ people like the defendant think when they commit a legally proscribed act. Then, the government need do no more than urge the jury to find that the defendant is like ‘most’ people and convict,” Gorsuch added.

Diaz’s defense lawyers said she did not know that methamphetamine was stashed away in the vehicle she was driving, which belonged to her boyfriend. They described her as a “blind mule,” someone who did not know he or she was transporting illicit substances. Thomas’s opinion was joined by five other Republican-nominated members of the court in addition to one Democratic-nominated member, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Supreme Court Just Gave Prosecutors a 'Powerful New Tool,' Gorsuch SaysIn a dissenting opinion, Gorsuch was joined by Supreme Court Justices Elana Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »

Neil Gorsuch Slams Supreme Court Ruling: 'Trash Heap'A bankruptcy case divided the conservative justices serving on the Supreme Court.
Source: Newsweek - 🏆 468. / 52 Read more »

Trump campaign reacts to bump stock Supreme Court decision: ‘The court has spoken’Former President Donald Trump's campaign supported the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a Trump administration ban on 'bump stocks,' which enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rounds faster.
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »

Supreme Court sides with Starbucks, makes it harder for NLRB to win court ordersThe justices tightened the standards for when a federal court should issue an order to protect the jobs of workers during a union organizing campaign.
Source: komonews - 🏆 272. / 63 Read more »

Supreme Court sends dispute over Arkansas' GOP-drawn congressional map back to lower courtLawrence Hurley covers the Supreme Court for NBC News.
Source: NBCNewsHealth - 🏆 707. / 51 Read more »

Supreme Court upholds a tax on foreign income over a challenge backed by business interestsSupreme Court justices, by a 7-2 vote, left in place a provision of a 2017 tax law that is expected to generate $340 billion, mainly from the foreign subsidiaries of domestic corporations that parked money abroad to shield it from U.S. taxes.
Source: clevelanddotcom - 🏆 301. / 63 Read more »