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Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example
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October 6, 2025
Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example
By: James Trusty
On a crisp October afternoon while the media focused on P Diddy’s high-profile New York sentencing, a less conspicuous—but more consequential—hearing took place in another federal courthouse, not far from the nation’s capital. Nichola Roske was sentenced for the attempted assassination of at least one Supreme Court associate justice. On June 8, 2022, Roske flew across the country—California to Virginia—and then traveled by cab to the Maryland address of Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Roske arrived armed with a laser-sighted handgun, knife, lock picking set, duct tape, hammer, crowbar, and tactical gear. In his on-line research before the cross-country flight, Roske searched for information on conservative justices, mass shooters, and techniques for hurting people with knives, including the question:…
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
August 25, 2025
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
By: George Calhoun
Bankruptcy continues as a favored vehicle for the resolution of mass-tort claims, particularly asbestos-based claims. In two recent cases in Delaware, an often-overlooked issue has raised a red flag concerning the fairness of the trusts proposed in many of these cases. The plan proponents in those cases proposed asbestos trusts that provided that foreign claimants were not eligible for payment. It is a foundational principle…
The Referral was the Easy Part – Where does Gabbard’s Evidence Lead DOJ?
July 29, 2025
The Referral was the Easy Part – Where does Gabbard’s Evidence Lead DOJ?
By: James Trusty
Americans are used to a considerable level of dirty tricks when it comes to politics. Occasionally, however, a legal line is crossed and a high-level official is either chased out of office, subjected to a criminal prosecution, or both. Ask Richard Nixon, Marvin Mandel, and Bob Menendez. Despite the predictable proclamation from prominent democrats that DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard’s referral is “old news” and “politically…
A Rubashkin Acquittal: Did the Prosecutor Go Too Far?
June 11, 2010
A Rubashkin Acquittal: Did the Prosecutor Go Too Far?
By: Ifrah Law
Former Agriprocessors, Inc. executive Sholom Rubashkin was acquitted in Iowa state court on Monday, June 7, 2010, on all 67 counts of child labor violations relating to 26 teenagers from Latin America who worked at Rubashkin’s kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. The jury reached its verdict during the second day of deliberations. During the month-long trial, the jury had heard testimony from several Guatemalan…
Judge Weighs In on DOJ ‘Side Agreement’ With Bank
June 8, 2010
Judge Weighs In on DOJ ‘Side Agreement’ With Bank
By: Ifrah Law
In a rare occurrence, a so-called deferred prosecution agreement entered into by the U.S. Department of Justice with a target of a criminal investigation has been subject to scrutiny by a federal judge, and the result wasn’t favorable to the government. In fact, a judicial ruling in the case of a fired Miami bank executive appears to be a signal from the bench to the…
Is Google Ready to Protect Our Legal Rights?
June 7, 2010
Is Google Ready to Protect Our Legal Rights?
By: Ifrah Law
Is the government reading your e-mail messages? A routine law enforcement technique of using subpoenas instead of search warrants to obtain e-mail from internet service providers (ISPs) means that literally anyone who uses the Internet risks intrusion from unlawful government surveillance practices. Subpoenas can be issued under a much lower standard than the probable cause standard used for search warrants. They require only a reasonable…
Heritage, NACDL Session Weighs In on Criminal Intent
June 3, 2010
Heritage, NACDL Session Weighs In on Criminal Intent
By: Ifrah Law
An unusual coalition of the conservative Heritage Foundation and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) recently issued a study entitled “Without Intent: How Congress Is Eroding the Criminal Intent Requirement in Federal Law.” See this blog’s discussion at Crime in the Suites: Has Congress Eroded the Intent Requirement in Criminal Law? and the discussions on the Letter of Apology and the Sentencing Law and…
Is Virginia Real?
May 26, 2010
Is Virginia Real?
By: Ifrah Law
U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia has been in the news of late. Last week, he announced plans to pursue prosecutions of high-profile securities-fraud cases in his district. For years, securities-fraud cases have been, with rare exception, primarily handled by the Southern District of New York. MacBride takes comfort in a December 2007 Fourth Circuit case that held that the Eastern…
