Have you seen the recent video of Ashton Kutcher speaking at a Senate hearing? For many who only know him as the star of That’s 70s Show or Punk’d, seeing him speaking in a serious tone before the Senate Foreign…
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
Criminal Jurisdiction:
A Criminal Law Blog from a Defense Perspective
2017
Category: Drug Crime | Federal Criminal Law
In response to the legalization of medical and recreational use of marijuana at the state level, the Obama administration through its Justice Department announced it would not pursue the enforcement of federal marijuana laws over the legalization of the drug…
2017
Category: Criminal Justice Reform | Prosecutorial Misconduct
In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court in Giglio v. United States informed prosecutors that they had a constitutional duty to disclose to criminal defendants any information that would impeach the credibility of government witnesses, including any financial benefits provided, promised…
2017
Investopedia defines a “Ponzi scheme” as a “fraudulent investment scam” that promises high rates of return. The scheme is built on the premise that the investments of original investors can be used to generate new investors with the promise that…
2017
Category: Internet Sex Crimes
Sentencing disparity in child pornography cases is an infectious virus undermining the integrity of the federal judiciary. We discussed this problem as far back as 2010. The problem has gotten worse.
This horrific federal sentencing problem was created, and…
2017
Category: Immigration Crimes
President Donald Trump has at every opportunity falsely stated that anywhere from three to five million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 presidential election. Neither he nor anyone else in his administration has provided the public, any law enforcement…
2017
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Sex Crimes
The New York Times reported in October 2015 that the State of Minnesota civilly commits more sex offenders per capita than any other state in the nation. The Times said the state has committed more than 700 sex offenders over…
2017
Texas law requires that criminal courts place “affirmative findings” in their judgment whenever it proven that a “deadly weapon” was knowingly used or exhibited during the commission of a felony. Such a finding has serious consequences on a convicted individual,…
2017
Category: Criminal Law | Illegal Pornography | Internet Sex Crimes
Texas Penal Code § 21.15(b)(1) made it a crime to photograph someone “without the person’s consent” and “with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.”
In 2014, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Ex…
2017
Category: Criminal Law
On January 12, 2017, the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI)published a money bail study that revealed it is costing American taxpayers roughly $38 million a day, or nearly 14 billion a year, to keep approximately 450,000 low risk, pretrial detainees housed…