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How Much is Too Much? – Second Circuit Establishes Guardrails for Sentencing Hearings
FEATURED
June 22, 2026
How Much is Too Much? – Second Circuit Establishes Guardrails for Sentencing Hearings
By: James Trusty
As any federal criminal practitioner can attest, judges holding a sentencing hearing are privy to an intentionally wider universe of information about the defendant than a jury would have heard about at trial. We want judges to consider all sorts of things about the offender and the offense, beyond just the facts establishing the crime – social background, employment history, criminal record, substance abuse history, mental health issues, and more. Particularly in federal proceedings, a lot of ink, angst, and argument is devoted to addressing thorny issues of unadjudicated “relevant conduct” and “jointly undertaken criminal activity.” In many cases, these expansive concepts can lead to a tax case having the same penalty as a murder prosecution (“Al Capone sentenced for tax evasion”) or a judge holding defendant…
Robotic Risk—but Is the Ultimate Answer Still a Human One?
May 26, 2026
Robotic Risk—but Is the Ultimate Answer Still a Human One?
By: Lauren Scribner
It now goes without saying that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a convenient solution for accomplishing certain tedious tasks, such as planning an upcoming trip, figuring out what to make for dinner with ingredients already on hand, or adding some professional flare to an email. But when it comes to some of the more high-stakes areas of life, such as obtaining financial, medical, or legal…
Murdaugh She Wrote
May 21, 2026
Murdaugh She Wrote
By: James Trusty
As the information regarding Alex Murdaugh’s conniving, murderous ways began to spread far beyond the Lowcountry of South Carolina and into the cable and social media airwaves, a curious and ominous thing took root. The temptation of star power and riches slumped stealthily behind the public face of the proceedings, causing a low-level bureaucrat to destroy the notion of an impartial jury in one of…
Judge Strikes Down FBI’s Use of ‘National Security Letters’
March 29, 2013
Judge Strikes Down FBI’s Use of ‘National Security Letters’
By: Ifrah Law
In a recent decision, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California struck down the FBI’s use of National Security Letters (NSLs) as unconstitutional. Unbeknownst to most Americans, the FBI has been issuing thousands of NSLs every year. The letters demand that recipients, such as banks and telephone companies, provide customers’ information such as their transactional records, phone numbers dialed, and email…
Court: Data on Unsecured Network May Qualify for 4th Amendment Protection
March 11, 2013
Court: Data on Unsecured Network May Qualify for 4th Amendment Protection
By: Ifrah Law
The vast increase in the use of wireless data networks has led to new legal issues regarding network users’ right to privacy. A recent opinion issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon indicates that, under some circumstances, individuals on an unsecured wireless network have a reasonable expectation of privacy entitling them to Fourth Amendment protection. As a result, police officers must…
Was This Identity Theft? Sixth Circuit Should Limit Meaning of That Term
March 5, 2013
Was This Identity Theft? Sixth Circuit Should Limit Meaning of That Term
By: Nicole Kardell
What’s in a name? When you think of identity theft, you typically think of someone taking a person’s name plus some other identifiers, like their address and Social Security number or credit card number, to go on a spending spree or drain the victim’s bank account. You may think of fraudulent impersonation. But what if someone falsely stated that another person gave him permission to…
Va. Court Declines to Decide Status of Poker Under State’s Gambling Law
March 4, 2013
Va. Court Declines to Decide Status of Poker Under State’s Gambling Law
By: Ifrah Law
On February 28, 2013, the Virginia Supreme Court issued an opinion in which it declined to address the legality of playing poker in the state but left open the possibility for the issue to be decided in a future case. The full opinion in the case, Daniels v. Mobley, is available here. Charles Daniels, a former poker hall operator who operated charitable bingo halls in…
This Gaming Case Didn’t Have to Be Prosecuted
February 26, 2013
This Gaming Case Didn’t Have to Be Prosecuted
By: Ifrah Law
A Nevada man now has a criminal record – simply because he placed a bet in a casino in Las Vegas and a casino employee didn’t ask him enough questions. Robert Walker recently pleaded guilty in federal court to one misdemeanor count involving a record-keeping violation and was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation. He was also ordered to pay a $250 fine and…
