Lawrence J. Gerrans v. United States
FirstAmendment
1. May a district court , upon the prosecutor's demand that a defendant's Bible be removed from the courtroom during a criminal trial, constitutionally prohibit a defendant from possessing and consulting a Bible while the jury trial is in session ?
2. Should this Court overrule Ninth Circuit law, and resolve a Circuit split, by holding that in rare c ases, a federal circuit court may r emand for further development of the r ecord on a c laim of i neffective assistance of c ounsel ?
3. May a n appellate court disregard the unequivocal instructions in the Sentencing Guideline Worksheets for the timing and order of calculating sentencing guideline enhancements, and rely on citations to wrong guideline sections, in support of a cursory opinion on a guidelin e calculation that increases a defendant's prison sentence by years?
May a district court prohibit a defendant from possessing and consulting a Bible during a criminal trial?