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Punishing the Parent – Should the Parents of a School Shooter Be Criminally Liable for their Parental Failures?
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April 16, 2024
Punishing the Parent – Should the Parents of a School Shooter Be Criminally Liable for their Parental Failures?
By: Abbey Block
Can being a bad parent make you a criminal? A jury in Michigan recently answered yes in the case of Jennifer and James Crumbley – the parents of high school mass shooter, Ethan Crumbley. Although neither Mr. nor Mrs. Crumbley fired a single shot during the school shooting that killed four students (and injured six other people), last week they were each sentenced to ten years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The high school shooting, which took place nearly three years ago in Oxford, Michigan is undoubtedly a horrific tragedy. Nobody questions that the shooter, Ethan, should be punished severely for his actions. Indeed, in 2023, Ethan, who was charged as an adult (despite being fifteen at the time of…
Was FTX Collapse as Bad as Enron? In sentencing SBF, Judge Kaplan Says Yes
April 1, 2024
Was FTX Collapse as Bad as Enron? In sentencing SBF, Judge Kaplan Says Yes
By: Jeffrey Hamlin
On Thursday, March 28, 2024, 32-year old Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history—a fraud perpetrated through two cryptocurrency entities he founded—FTX and Alameda Research. In late-2023, a jury convicted him on various conspiracy and substantive counts for wire fraud on FTX’s customers, securities fraud on FTX’s customers and investors,…
A Tale of Two Courts
February 16, 2024
A Tale of Two Courts
By: James Trusty
Much has been made of the contemptuous and combustible combination of former President Trump and Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoran, the trial judge in the New York “fraud” case that imperils Trump’s ability to do business in New York. This week we got a glimpse into a different proceeding involving an extremely opinionated subject of an accusation—District Attorney Fanni Willis—presided over by Fulton County…
Will the Internet Taint a Loughner Verdict?
February 22, 2011
Will the Internet Taint a Loughner Verdict?
By: Ifrah Law
As Arizona plans a trial for accused Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner, a new set of questions has arisen: How will a jury be able to sit in impartial judgment, untainted by nonstop online coverage of the crime and its aftermath? What safeguards should a judge impose to keep the jury from following the case on the Internet and reaching a verdict based on facts…
Facebook Friends and Judicial Ethics
February 15, 2011
Facebook Friends and Judicial Ethics
By: Ifrah Law
Last December, another legal ethics commission addressed the question of whether a judge may become a “friend” on a social networking site with attorneys who appear as counsel in the judge’s courtroom. The Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline opined that a judge may “friend” attorneys as long as the judge takes care to protect the integrity and impartiality of the…
Is D.C. on the Way to Legalizing Online Poker?
February 2, 2011
Is D.C. on the Way to Legalizing Online Poker?
By: Ifrah Law
An amendment introduced to the District of Columbia Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Support Act and approved with little fanfare or advance warning could signal a major change in the law of i-gaming. The amendment, introduced by at-large Democrat Councilmember Michael A. Brown, would allow the D.C. Lottery to administer online poker by defining the D.C. Lottery to include both “games of skill and games of…
Amicus Briefs Urge Reduction in Rubashkin Fraud Sentence
January 25, 2011
Amicus Briefs Urge Reduction in Rubashkin Fraud Sentence
By: Ifrah Law
We first posted about Sholom Rubashkin—the former plant manager at the now-defunct Agriprocessors, Inc. — back in May 2010, when Rubashkin was awaiting sentence for more than 80 counts of fraud in connection with his operation of the kosher slaughterhouse. Since then, Chief U.S. District Judge Linda Reade of the Northern District of Iowa sentenced Rubashkin to 27 years in prison, an action that sparked…
California Court OKs Warrantless Search of Cell Phone
January 19, 2011
California Court OKs Warrantless Search of Cell Phone
By: Ifrah Law
The text messages in a defendant’s cell phone are in no way different, for the purposes of a police search after an arrest, from the defendant’s clothing or a cigarette package. That was the holding of the California Supreme Court on January 3, 2011, in People v. Diaz, a case in which the state’s highest court approved the police’s warrantless search of the text message…
