July 2013 - Federal Criminal Law Center

Georgia’s air war on marijuana growers

Posted by Marcia Shein
On July 29, 2013
0 Comments

The rigor with which Georgia law enforcement authorities pursue and seek to convict individuals on marijuana-related drug charges in the state can be amply appreciated by contrast. Colorado serves well as a case in point. While Georgia law still provides for some of the most stringent criminal penalties in the country for marijuana possession of […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On July 25, 2013
0 Comments

It’s not overly difficult in many instances to tell when the government has a continuing interest in either prosecuting an individual on criminal charges or bringing a civil lawsuit against that person for alleged wrongdoing in a corporate matter. The long and winding road traversed by Steven A. Cohen is a case in point. Cohen […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On July 18, 2013
0 Comments

Five drug dealers in a drug-trafficking enterprise who were convicted on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin were sentenced to the same mandatory minimum 20-year prison term by a federal district judge, despite differentiated roles they played in the organization. That sentence was handed down after five people fatally overdosed on the drug. Their […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On July 15, 2013
0 Comments

Radley Balko is a writer with a special interest in civil liberties issues who commands a resume that lends credibility to what he has to say about topics in that sphere. Balko was a former Cato Institute analyst and senior editor at Reason Magazine. He is currently a senior writer and investigative reporter for the […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On July 14, 2013
0 Comments

A federal grand jury recently indicted a man who was once the Assistant Controller for the Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation for embezzlement. Donald Thomas allegedly embezzled roughly $450,000 in public funds from Grady Memorial Hospital. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the investigation of Thomas began after it received information that he was abusing […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On July 12, 2013
0 Comments

The legal regime in the United States has long been an expressed fascination of and conundrum for legal commentators in other parts of the world, especially those living in countries that lack the subtle interplay between state and federal law arising from federalism. That concept — that some subject matter must be controlled by the […]

Posted by Marcia Shein
On July 8, 2013
0 Comments

The United States Supreme Court weighed in last year with a ruling that police officers must obtain a warrant based upon probable cause in order to secretly attach tracking devices (GPS units) to suspects’ vehicles in drug crimes and other cases. Prior to the issuance of the Court’s ruling, lower federal courts had highly mixed […]

Georgia’s air war on marijuana growers

Lengthy government investigations of investor CEO deemed a "war"

Federal circuits not routinely aligned on drug dealer sentencing

Civil liberties analyst, writer focuses on rise of SWAT teams

Georgia man faces federal embezzlement charges

America and pot: States are truly all over the map

Growing issue: federal agents’ use of warrantless phone tracking