Georgia, Atlanta, Identity Theft Hot Spots
The Federal Trade Commission has ranked Georgia 4th among the States and Atlanta 19th among cities for identity theft crimes, as reported in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The rankings are based on complaints received by the FTC in 2010. Significant among Georgia’s numbers are 2,882 complaints of government benefits or documents fraud; 911 complaints of bank […]
READ MOREIllinois to Ban Salvia
The hallucinogen salvia divinorum will become illegal in Illinois starting tomorrow, as that state joins a handful of others that have criminalized this drug. The author of the bill that outlawed the drug, Sen. Dennis Reboletti, is quoted as saying “We decided to move forward rather than waiting for someone to be killed because of […]
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Town in Massachusetts Wants to Fine Potty Mouths
Middleborough, Massachusetts wants to fine people who use profanity in public. They would like to make profanity “disorderly conduct”. This got me thinking about the movie Demolition Man where every time someone cursed they were issued a fine. Is this the direction we’re headed? Okay, okay, this is one town in a liberal state, maybe […]
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Henry ‘Curtis’ Jackson Jr. Executed In Mississippi For Killing 4 Nieces, Nephews
Is Mississippi Safer Because Another Black Man Died? The man lay on his back on the gurney. A portion of the red prison jumpsuit visible above the edge of the sheet which rose and fell with his breathing. Four tubes slithered from the wall and disappeared under the sheet. “Do you have any final words?” […]
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George Zimmerman and the Presumption of Innocence: Redux
As a NYC Criminal Attorney, I was under the false impression that this would die down after a while, but I forget it is an election year and we still have 24 hour news networks. So, I’ve decided to write this post on the George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin case—mostly, because I’ve found that when […]
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Life in Shambles for New Hampshire Psychiatrist Acquitted of VA Charges
Dr. William Weeks had a life many would envy. He was a prominent psychiatrist, a professor at Dartmouth College, a physician at the local Department of Veterans’ Affairs hospital, a nationally-recognized expert on rural healthcare, the head of his town’s School Board and treasurer of his church. However, as reported by Fox News, his life […]
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Charles Taylor Trial Sheds Light on War Crimes Proceedings
Editorial pages and op-eds worldwide rightfully commended the trial and conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone’s civil war. The deterrent effect of this judgment on civilian and military leaders in third-world, traditionally weak countries run by dictators or despots will reverberate. Taylor had […]
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Justice Department Defends the Role of Deferred-Prosecution Agreements in Corporate Crime Enforcement
A top attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice recently defended the use of deferred-prosecution agreements (DPA’s) to combat corporate wrongdoing. On September 13, 2012, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lanny Breuer, spoke to the New York Bar Association and maintained that that the increased use of such agreements has had a “transformative effect” on corporate […]
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Sarah Palin E-mail Hacking Case Goes to Jury
Knoxvillenews.com has been intensively covering and elsewhere the trial of David C. Kernell, son of Tennessee State Representative Mike Kernell of Memphis and former University of Tennessee student, who was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee with hacking into the electronic mail account of former Governor of Alaska and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah […]
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New Stats: Violent Crime, Drug Use, Marijuana Arrests
A couple important statistical studies have been released this month. First, the DOJ’s Uniform Crime Report for 2007 was released. Basic take: violent crime is continuing a modest decline. Somewhere, James Q. Wilson is undoubtedly scribbling another editorial explaining why this shows that America is fortunate to be the world’s biggest incarcerator. Second, every year […]
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