In 1984, the U.S. Congress established the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The organization was reauthorized by the Congress and the President in 2013 with $40 million in government funding. The group calls itself a “private, non-profit…
Category: Federal Criminal Law
2016
Category: Cyber Crimes | Federal Criminal Law
The computer network of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was recently hacked into by cyber criminals. National media outlets have reported that federal officials tried to warn the DNC months before the intrusion about a potential breach and the group…
2016
Category: Drug Crime | Drug Trafficking | Federal Criminal Law
In March of 2015, Neftali Avarez-Nunez (“Nunez”) was arrested in Catano, Puerto Rico. The arrest came after the police observed Nunez discarding a weapon outside a bar. The police retrieved and examined the handgun. It was loaded, fitted with an…
2016
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Illegal Pornography | Internet Sex Crimes
There is this rule of law—dating back to 1932 when the U.S. Supreme Court first pronounced it—that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits multiple punishments for the same criminal offense.
Double Jeopardy
The double jeopardy…
2016
Category: Cyber Crimes | Drug Trafficking | Federal Criminal Law
Police love them. They are called Stingrays—surveillance devices that can deceive a criminal suspect’s cell phone into revealing its location.
The ACLU has combined a list of 66 law enforcement agencies in 24 states and the District of Columbia…
2016
Category: Drug Crime | Federal Criminal Law
Sentencing is a vital component of the federal criminal trial process. It demands fairness, impartiality, and justification by the judge imposing the sentence following a determination of guilt.
84 Month Guideline Sentence
Billy J. Robinson, Jr. was a…
2016
Category: Federal Criminal Law | Prosecutorial Misconduct
Rules 16 and 26.2 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Jencks Act (18 U.S.C. §3500), Brady v. Maryland, and Giglio v. United States impose upon all federal prosecutors an obligation to disclose exculpatory and impeachment information.
DOJ…
2016
Category: Bribery | Federal Criminal Law
In May, we posted a piece about the U.S. Supreme Court being poised to redefine “political corruption” in the case of former Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell who was convicted in September 2014 on federal corruption charges. The government charged,…
2016
Category: Federal Criminal Law
Facing federal prosecution can be daunting and intimidating. Prosecutors and judges are different at the federal level as are the bail, jury selection, trial, and sentencing procedures. These differences are attributable to the fact that only the more serious criminal…
2016
Category: Federal Criminal Law | terrorism
The things some politicians say often defy logic and everyday common sense. That has certainly been the case in comments some politicians, especially Republican conservatives, have made in the wake of the horrific Orlando massacre and the need to keep…