Tag: DOJ

January 8, 2018

Speed Bump or Dead End? The 2018 Retrial Prospects for Sen. Menendez

This holiday season was undoubtedly festive for Senator Bob Menendez, whose corruption trial ended with a deadlocked jury in mid-November.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) has yet to announce whether it will elect to re-try the New Jersey senator, but here are some of the factors they will, and will not, consider in making that… Read More

January 4, 2018

Marijuana May Be Headed for a Showdown Out West

Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a one-page memo to all U.S. Attorneys that announced a sharp reversal on the DOJ’s approach to marijuana prosecutions. Under the Obama administration, the DOJ issued a memorandum in 2013 (the “Cole memo”) that basically provided a safe harbor to the marijuana industry in states that legalized recreational marijuana…. Read More

July 13, 2017

The Lowdown on Takedowns

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a battery of other federal law enforcement officials today announced the “largest health care fraud takedown” in U.S. history, with 412 charged defendants, including 56 doctors, accused of defrauding taxpayers of roughly $1.3 billion.  Importantly, the takedown focused on the over-prescription of opioids, a phenomenon that has led to thousands… Read More

June 12, 2017

The “Third Party” Catch-22

As the Department of Justice has been doubling down on law enforcement overreach, the Supreme Court has just decided to hear a case that may limit the use of a common tool that law enforcement uses to infringe upon the privacy rights of innocent people. The case, Carpenter v. United States, arises out of a… Read More

April 5, 2016

Wells Fargo Learns That Recording Calls In California Can Be Costly

In the past few years, many organizations such as Capital One, Bass Pro Outdoor, and the Cosmopolitan Hotel have faced class actions alleging violations of California’s call recording law.  This week, California’s Attorney General demonstrated that her office, working with state prosecutors, will also vigorously enforce the law under the state’s criminal statutes.  Attorney General… Read More

September 11, 2015

DOJ uses White Collar Prosecution for Election-Season Rabble Rousing

Beating their chests and breathing fire to rouse the polity, the Department of Justice recently came out with an announcement as earth shattering as the sun rising. The DOJ proclaimed it has adopted new policies to prioritize the prosecution of individuals for white-collar crime. Deputy Attorney General, Sally Q. Yates, was quoted in the New… Read More

June 25, 2015

Another Bill to Expand the Wire Act: Bad Law Clothed in a Lie

It is ironic that recent proposed legislation that would expand the scope of the federal Wire Act comes from a U.S. senator in the South, where “states’ rights” has always been a rallying cry. This past week’s focus on the presence of the Confederate battle flag on the grounds of the South Carolina capitol (and… Read More

March 30, 2015

Recap of RAWA House Subcommittee Hearing and What It Means for iGaming

The House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations held a hearing last week to consider bill HR 707, the “Restoration of America’s Wire Act,” or RAWA.  The proposed bill would prohibit most types of online gambling, whether or not they have been legalized and regulated by any state. The bill was drafted in… Read More