10th Circuit Court of Appeals

Today Shawn gets the opportunity to argue in front of the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in Denver, Colorado.  There is only one higher court that he could possibly argue a case before-- the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Since I had to research exactly what this opportunity and court is all about I thought I'd share with you.

"The federal courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts between the district (trial) courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. (In this instance I draw your attention to the column on the far left.) 

 
There are thirteen courts of appeals: eleven numbered circuits (First through Eleventh), the District of Columbia Circuit, and the Federal Circuit. The numbered circuits, including the Tenth Circuit, provide appellate review of all cases tried in the district courts within the geographic area of their jurisdiction; they also decide appeals brought to them by residents of the circuit from various administrative tribunals, including the Tax Court and agencies of the federal government.

The territorial jurisdiction of the Tenth Circuit includes the six states of Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, plus those portions of the Yellowstone National Park extending into Montana and Idaho."

Shawn is arguing about the order of the law.  In his case, the court sent a man to prison on a lesser charge, then is prosecuting the additional people let's call them accessories to the crime based on the larger charge.  Shawn is arguing that you can't proceed punish the accessories based on a crime that was never established as a crime.  (They are basically trying to collect money from his client on this basis.)  Shawn is arguing that the court must first convict someone of that crime before restitution can be made of the crime.

It seems reasonable that you would need to be convicted first...don't you think?

Good luck today Shawn! I wish I were there to listen, and cheer---cheering is aloud in court right?