Does ‘Speech or Debate’ Trump the Right to Defend Oneself in Court?
On February 5, 2013, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives filed a brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to hold that U.S. legislators and their aides cannot be forced to testify about their legislative activities, even when their expected testimony might help exonerate a criminal…
Read MoreDomain Name Seizure – It’s Not Just a U.S. Law Enforcement Tactic
We have previously reported in this space about the use of domain name seizures by American law enforcement – for example, here and here. Recent media reports show that domain name seizure has become the go-to tactic for law enforcement for other countries as well. Canadian police made a series of arrests during an invitation-only…
Read MoreCourt Finds State Ban on Sex Offenders’ Use of Social Media Tramples Speech Rights
In a January 23, 2013, ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit held that an Indiana law that prohibited most registered sex offenders from using social media websites was unconstitutional because it was “not narrowly tailored to protect the state’s interest.” The decision was restricted to the Indiana statute on sex offenders…
Read MoreOnline Pharma Exec Gets 4 Years in Prison for Selling Foreign Drugs in U.S.
Andrew Strempler, a Canadian citizen who helped to pioneer the cross-border online pharmacy industry, was sentenced on January 9, 2013, to four years in prison in connection with allegations that his former company sold fake and misbranded drugs to U.S. citizens. The sentence follows Strempler’s guilty plea in October in federal court in Miami to…
Read MoreAre the Feds Enlisting FedEx to Police the Illegal Pharma Market?
The government may be coming up with a new cost-effective measure to help balance the federal budget – enlisting private companies to do their policing. A 2011 settlement between the Justice Department and Google for $500 million is one recent example. Under the settlement, Google acknowledged responsibility for improperly aiding rogue pharmacies by allowing the…
Read MoreBill Could Put Reins on Prosecutors’ Efforts to Seize Domain Names
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, has indicated that she is drafting legislation that would seek to increase judicial oversight over prosecutors’ efforts to act against Internet domain names accused of copyright infringement. While the value of such legislation will depend on the details of the bill, the notion…
Read MoreN.J. Again Passes Online-Poker Bill; Decision Now in Governor’s Hands
New Jersey could soon become the third state to legalize online gaming within its borders. Its State Senate on December 20, 2012, voted 33-3 to legalize online poker in the state. The General Assembly had previously approved the bill by a vote of 48-25-3. The bill was able to achieve significant bipartisan support in both…
Read MoreCourt’s Strict Interpretation of Bank Fraud Law May Rein In Prosecutors
A recent interpretation of the federal bank fraud statute by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit may prove to be a useful check to overreaching by federal prosecutors, who have tended to use that statute in the past as a catch-all law enforcement tool. In United States v. Nkansah, the Court…
Read MoreD.C. Circuit: Restitution Order Must Involve Victim’s Loss, Not Defendant’s Gain
On November 9, 2012, in a unanimous opinion in United States v. Fair, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the district court had abused its discretion in ordering restitution in the amount of $743,000 in a criminal copyright infringement case. The appeals court vacated the lower court’s restitution order, finding…
Read MoreAre Medicaid Claims Becoming the Next Battleground for FCA Cases?
A qui tam case that was recently dismissed on summary judgment may signal the next front in the legal enforcement war arising from off-label use of prescription medications. In United States ex rel. Watson v. King-Vassel et al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the complaint alleged that defendant…
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