United States v. Alejandro Umana

The government used unconfronted accusations from police informants to send a man to his death. I strongly believe that this violated Mr. Umaña’s Sixth Amendment rights. My full reasoning is set out in my dissent. United States v. Umaña, 750 F.3d 320, 360-70 (4th Cir.2014). With all due respect, I consider our refusal to rehear this case en banc to be a grave mistake. However, I write today to explain why I believe that Supreme Court review of Mr. Umaña’s argument is warranted.

I believe Supreme Court review is vital because this Court and the district court misread the past five decades of…