SCOTUS happenings (UPDATED)

Everyone is wondering why SCOTUS decided to announce an opinion this morning when it wasn't previously scheduled.  Whisper is that it might be Welch, the retroactivity case on the ACCA.  Check in with SCOTUSblog for more.

Update 10:14am -- Yup, it was Welch.  7-1 decision per Kennedy saying Johnson is retroactive, reversing the 11th Circuit (which had denied the certificate of appealability).

Clarence Thomas is coming to HBO.  Apparently it isn't going to be flattering.

Former Broward Teacher's Union president Pat Santeramo was sentenced Friday to five years by former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Levenson. From the Sun-Sentinel:

Santeramo, who had asked Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson for leniency, faced a maximum penalty of 55 years after he was convicted in January of money laundering, organized scheme to defraud and violating campaign contribution laws.

"I ask you when making your final decision to consider the good that I have done throughout my life and not just this snapshot in time," Santeramo said.
But prosecutor David Schulson said while Santeramo doesn't deserve the maximum sentence, his actions weren't a momentary lapse of reason.
"Santeramo made the choice to steal from BTU funds," Schulson said, citing trial evidence that the union head received 30 payments from 2006 until 2011 from general contractor David Esposito, who testified against Santeramo in exchange for immunity. "It is crystal clear based on the evidence that not a single dollar of BTU funds would have been stolen without the knowledge and participation of Pat Santeramo."
Santeramo was a music teacher from 1978 until 1995, when he began working for the union full time. He became president of the union in 2001 after the previous president, Tony Gentile, was arrested on child pornography charges. Santeramo served as president for 11 years.

Jurors took eight hours over two days to find Santeramo guilty of all charges against him except for one – an allegation that he misused his union-issued gasoline card for personal business.

"It confounds the court and I must ask why," Levenson said. "Why over these years did you abuse the trust of the union that you were so devoted to and that you so loved?"
Former Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo found guilty of corruption
Former Broward Teachers Union president Pat Santeramo found guilty of corruption

Schulson asked Levenson to sentence Santeramo to a 10-year term; Levenson decided on half that. "Hopefully this will be a note for those who are in those positions of trust to take those positions of trust seriously" Levenson said.