Justice Stevens refuses to grant bail for Conrad Black

In this post at SCOTUSblog, titled "Black loses bail plea — for now," Lyle Denniston reports that "Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens refused on Thursday to order the release on bail of Canadian media mogul Conrad M. Black, but allowed Black’s lawyers to make a new plea for his freedom from a federal judge."  Here are more details:

Stevens’ order, containing no explanation, can be found here.  The bail issue (application 08A1063) is separate from the Supreme Court’s planned review of Black’s conviction; the Justices will hear and decide that case next Term (Black, et al., v. U.S. 08-876).

Black, if he chooses to do so, can now take the bail issue back to a federal judge who earlier had concluded that Black need not be held while his case proceeded beyond his conviction in a high-profile executive compensation case involving accusations of fraud and obstruction of justice.

That judge, District Judge Amy J. St. Eve of Chicago, denied a request by the government — while Black was awaiting sentencing — to order him detained.  He was then sentenced to a 78-month sentence, and went to prison when the Seventh Circuit Court refused further bail while he pursued an appeal to the Circuit Court.