Federal Rules Update: How Rules Are Made: A Brief Review

A number of amendments to the Federal Rules of Procedure and Evidence became effective on December 1, 2009. The change to Criminal Rule 7 deleted subdivision (c)(2), which required that the indictment include notice that the defendant has an interest in forfeitable property. Criminal Rule 32 now provides that the presentence report state whether the government is seeking forfeiture of property. Criminal Rule 32.2 received six amendments concerning criminal forfeiture. Criminal Rule 41 created a two-step process for seizing and reviewing electronic storage media. Further, of the Rules Governing § 2254 Proceedings, Rule 11 was created to make the requirements concerning certificates of appealability more prominent, and Rule 12 renumbers the former Rule 11. Of the Rules Governing § 2255 Proceedings, Rule 11 parallels the content of Rule 11 from § 2254. Finally, a number of time-computation amendments were made to the Federal Rules of Appellate, Bankruptcy, Civil, and Criminal Procedure