Insights < BACK TO ALL INSIGHTS
White-Collar Sentencing Under the Amended Guidelines: Fewer Steps, Same Dance
FEATURED
November 12, 2025
White-Collar Sentencing Under the Amended Guidelines: Fewer Steps, Same Dance
By: Robert Ward
For years, the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Guidelines Manual has guided courts through a three-step process to determine the sentence to be imposed. At a high level, that process looked like this: First, the court would calculate the guideline range based on relevant offense conduct and related factors, along with the defendant’s criminal history. Second, the court would consider the Sentencing Commission’s policy statements or commentary relating to “departures” from the guidelines as well as the defendant’s specific personal characteristics. Third, and finally, the court would consider the statutory factors set out in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) in determining the sentence to be imposed (whether within the guideline range or varying in either direction). As of November 1, 2025, this three-step…
Personal Information Flo-wing out of Control
October 20, 2025
Personal Information Flo-wing out of Control
By: Lauren Scribner
In September, a nearly $60 million settlement was reached in Frasco, et al v. Flo Health, Inc., Meta Platforms, Inc., Google, LLC, and Flurry, Inc. The case,[1] a class action filed in 2021, alleged inter alia that Flo Health Inc. (“Flo”), a popular women’s health tracking application estimated to have over 38 million monthly users, invaded the privacy of its users by sharing personal and…
New Laws for AI Developers: California’s Fork in the AI Regulatory Road
October 16, 2025
New Laws for AI Developers: California’s Fork in the AI Regulatory Road
By: Steven Hess
AI Regulation and The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act Artificial intelligence (“AI”) products have become an increasingly significant aspect of U.S. innovation, growth, and development. Generative AI is being used to predict the structure of proteins and other biomolecules in pharmaceutical research,[1] to simulate wargames for the U.S. military,[2] and to drive an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars of growth in sectors from…
Feds Should Think Twice About Regulating For-Profit Colleges
July 13, 2011
Feds Should Think Twice About Regulating For-Profit Colleges
By: Ifrah Law
Business is booming at America’s for-profit colleges. With steady high unemployment rates, many of the job-hungry have opted to pursue higher or specialized degrees in an effort to make themselves more marketable. Pricy for-profit institutions, like the 400,000 strong University of Phoenix, are flourishing with this increased demand as students flock to their courses to invest in new career prospects. But recent regulatory activity at…
New Guidelines Expand FBI’s Powers to Abuse Citizens’ Freedom
July 7, 2011
New Guidelines Expand FBI’s Powers to Abuse Citizens’ Freedom
By: Ifrah Law
New updates to the FBI’s agent manual, the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), greatly expand the FBI’s powers to search for information relating to groups or individuals who are not suspected of wrongdoing. The DIOG, which has been described as a collection of procedures, standards, approval levels, and explanations, to be used by FBI agents, was created in 2008 to help implement new Attorney…
U.K. Juror Gets 8-Month Sentence for Facebook Use
July 5, 2011
U.K. Juror Gets 8-Month Sentence for Facebook Use
By: Ifrah Law
Eight months seems a harsh sentence for a juror who made some ill-considered Facebook posts. Harsh, that is, until you hear the facts. The proceeding against U.K. resident Joanne Fraill is one of the first contempt prosecutions ever against a juror for improper Internet use. And the punishment she received is a reminder that, when pushed, courts have both the power and the will to…
DC Attorney General Testifies That DC Online Gaming Law Does Not Violate Federal Law
June 30, 2011
DC Attorney General Testifies That DC Online Gaming Law Does Not Violate Federal Law
By: Ifrah Law
The D.C. Council held a hearing on June 29, 2011, to discuss the implementation of a new law that is scheduled to go into full effect on Sept. 8, allowing legal online gaming within the D.C city limits. This would make the District of Columbia the first jurisdiction in the United States to legalize online gaming for money. The hearing also marked the first time…
New House Bill May Open Door to Legal Online Poker
June 26, 2011
New House Bill May Open Door to Legal Online Poker
By: Ifrah Law
The momentum toward federal legalization of online poker took a significant step forward on Friday, June 24, when Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) held a press conference to discuss the details of his legalization bill. The “Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011” would both legalize online poker and create a new federal agency to oversee its administration. Rep. Barton said…
