Criminal Practice

  • December 19, 2025

    Okla. City Bombing Prosecutor, Disability Advocate Dies At 75

    Joseph Hartzler, a longtime assistant U.S. attorney in Illinois who led the prosecution team in the 1997 Oklahoma City bombing trial and later became a federal public defender, died Thursday, one of his sons said. 

  • December 19, 2025

    Health Co. CEO Gets 15 Years In $1.4B Fraud Scheme

    A Florida federal judge sentenced a software company CEO to 15 years in prison Friday for participating in a scheme to coordinate illegal medical kickbacks through an internet platform, an operation that resulted in $1.4 billion worth of false billings to Medicare and other insurers for unnecessary medical products.

  • December 19, 2025

    4 Stories That Shaped Civil Rights, Access To Justice In 2025

    Civil rights and access to justice advocates faced mounting pressure in 2025, as President Donald Trump's return to office drove aggressive immigration enforcement, deep cuts to criminal justice funding, renewed Supreme Court scrutiny of the Voting Rights Act, and a steep increase in executions.

  • December 19, 2025

    Michigan's 5 Biggest Court Rulings Of 2025

    Michigan courts had a memorable year in 2025, issuing rulings that extended protections against automatic life sentences to young adults, struck down abortion restrictions and pulled the plug on criminal cases related to President Donald Trump's so-called fake elector plot.

  • December 19, 2025

    Supreme Court's Biggest Criminal Law Opinions Of 2025

    The U.S. Supreme Court in 2025 handed down major criminal law decisions that made it easier for defendants to mount post-conviction challenges, clarified fraud statutes, and settled a circuit split over whether defendants can be convicted of violent crimes in which they did not physically participate.

  • December 19, 2025

    Wis. Judge's Conviction In ICE Case Tees Up Legal Battle

    The conviction of a Wisconsin state judge for obstructing ICE officers is just the start of what will likely be a long legal battle, with major questions over judicial immunity, the evidence at hand and the meaning of "corrupt" yet to be decided.

  • December 19, 2025

    More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

    A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

  • December 19, 2025

    The 6 Biggest Rulings By Massachusetts' Top Court In 2025

    Massachusetts' top court rejected a novel double jeopardy claim in a headline-grabbing murder case, revived claims against Harvard over a "ghoulish" scheme, and said a Snapchat Bitmoji could show police bias, among other significant rulings this year.

  • December 18, 2025

    Wis. Judge Guilty Of Felony For Obstructing ICE Arrest

    A jury in Wisconsin federal court on Thursday found a judge guilty of a felony obstruction count after directing a defendant in her courtroom into a restricted hallway and away from a team of federal agents, in an act prosecutors said was a strike against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement powers.

  • December 18, 2025

    'Disturbing Revelations': Judge Says ICE Lied, Violated Order

    A New York federal judge Thursday excoriated U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the "inhumane and unlawful treatment" of an immigrant in its custody, accusing the agency of providing false information in a declaration, refusing to follow an emergency release order, and ignoring other court directives.

  • December 18, 2025

    Trump Order Rallies Cannabis Industry, Advocates Want More

    The executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Thursday, marking the most substantial shift in federal cannabis policy in over half a century, is expected to have favorable ramifications for the marijuana industry even as it falls short of decriminalizing the drug or resolving the many tensions between federal and state law.

  • December 18, 2025

    NJ Panel Allows Lab Expert Substitution In Sex Assault Case

    A New Jersey appeals court has upheld a man's conviction for sexual assault and criminal sexual contact, finding that because his attorneys failed to raise challenges during trial about how toxicology testimony was presented, he forfeited his right to appeal the issue.

  • December 18, 2025

    Mass. Panel Says Teen Plea OK In Decades-Old Murder Case

    Massachusetts' intermediate-level appeals court on Thursday ruled that a man who pled guilty to murder nearly 50 years ago, when he was a teenager, cannot change his plea by arguing that prosecutors at the time threatened him with a life sentence that today would be unconstitutional.

  • December 18, 2025

    NY Judge Suspended Amid Lotto Ticket Theft Allegations

    A New York judge has been suspended with pay, the state's highest court announced Thursday, after he was charged with stealing thousands of dollars in lotto tickets from a local Elks Lodge. 

  • December 18, 2025

    7th Circ. Upholds Ex-Illinois Lawmaker's Tax Sentence

    A former Illinois lawmaker cannot change her sentence despite attempts to comply with her tax reporting obligations after she was charged with evading them, the Seventh Circuit ruled Thursday, rejecting her argument that a lower court unconstitutionally barred evidence of her amended return.

  • December 18, 2025

    New NJ Rules Combat AI And Housing Discrimination

    The use of artificial intelligence in hiring practices is among the areas targeted by a sweeping new mandate enacted by New Jersey's Division on Civil Rights meant to shore up protections against discrimination.

  • December 18, 2025

    NY Court Orders Resentencing Over Repeat Offender Definition

    A man sentenced as a persistent violent offender after being convicted of criminal weapons possession and resisting arrest will have his sentence modified after a New York appeals court found there wasn't proof that his prior Vermont felonies were equal to in-state offenses.

  • December 18, 2025

    Trump Orders Loosening Of Federal Restrictions On Marijuana

    President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that his administration would instruct federal agencies to loosen restrictions on cannabis via executive order, a historic acknowledgment from the executive branch that the drug has recognized medical uses.

  • December 18, 2025

    Ringleader Of Beer Train Robbery Crew Gets 63 Months

    A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday handed down a 63-month prison sentence to a Bronx man who led a crew that stole nearly half-a-million dollars' worth of beer from trains, saying the defendant is fortunate nobody was harmed.

  • December 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms DHS Officers' Fast-Track Removal Authority

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday upheld the denial of a Mexican citizen's bid to toss illegal reentry charges, rejecting arguments that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security "deciding service officer" unconstitutionally ordered his removal, while also clarifying that such officers who issue fast-track removal orders aren't subject to the U.S. Constitution's appointments clause.

  • December 17, 2025

    NJ Gov. Says Clemency Grants Exceed 300 Since Exec Order

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday announced that his office has surpassed 300 grants of clemency since he launched an effort last year to increase the legal relief provided to incarcerated and convicted people in the state.

  • December 17, 2025

    5th Circ. Overturns 20-Year Sentence For Illegal Reentry

    A Fifth Circuit panel vacated a 20-year sentence imposed on a Mexican national for unlawful reentry, ruling Wednesday that prosecutors broke an informal agreement to support far lower sentencing guidelines if the man entered a guilty plea with no formal deal.

  • December 17, 2025

    Ex-Atlanta Hawks Exec Pleads Guilty In $3.8M Fraud Case

    A former finance executive with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks pled guilty to wire fraud Tuesday, striking a deal to resolve a case in which federal prosecutors accused him of embezzling more than $3.9 million from the team.

  • December 17, 2025

    Ex-Conn. Official Denied Hearing On Juror's Media Comment

    A former Connecticut schools construction official did not provide enough justification to warrant a post-conviction hearing to probe whether jurors were forthcoming about their exposure to press coverage of his public corruption case, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • December 17, 2025

    PG&E Electrical Transformer Bomber Gets 10 Years In Calif.

    A California federal judge Wednesday sentenced a San Jose software engineer to 10 years in prison for willfully bombing Pacific Gas & Electric Co. electrical transformers using homemade explosives in late 2022 and early 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Expert Analysis

  • Fleeing Or Just Leaving Quickly? 2nd Circ. Says It Depends

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    The Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Bardakova decision adopted a new approach for determining whether a defendant who commits a crime in the U.S., and then leaves and remains abroad, intends to avoid prosecution — making it more difficult to argue against the fugitive disentitlement doctrine in most cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI

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    After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.

  • Reel Justice: 'Eddington' Spotlights Social Media Evidence

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    In the neo-Western black comedy “Eddington” released last month, social media is a character unto itself, highlighting how the boundaries between digital and real-world conduct can become blurred, thereby posing evidentiary challenges in criminal prosecutions, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • Rebuttal

    BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation

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    A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.

  • 5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust

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    Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.

  • How To Successfully Challenge Jurors For Cause In 5 Steps

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    To effectively challenge a potential juror for cause, attorneys should follow a multistep framework rather than skipping straight to the final qualification question, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Series

    Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Augurs More Scrutiny Of Blanket Gag Orders

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    The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in In re: Sealed Case, finding that an omnibus nondisclosure order was too sweeping, should serve as a wake-up call to prosecutors and provide a road map for private parties to push back on overbroad secrecy demands, says Gregory Rosen at Rogers Joseph.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Negotiation Skills

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    I took one negotiation course in law school, but most of the techniques I rely on today I learned in practice, where I've discovered that the process is less about tricks or tactics, and more about clarity, preparation and communication, says Grant Schrantz at Haug Barron.

  • What Justices Left Unsaid About The Federal Tort Claims Act

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Martin v. U.S. rejected the Eleventh Circuit's interpretation of the Federal Tort Claims Act in the case of a botched police raid — but left unresolved many questions about plaintiffs' ability to hold the government accountable for officers' misdeeds, says Scott Brooks at Levy Firestone.

  • Opinion

    Bar Exam Reform Must Expand Beyond A Single Updated Test

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    Recently released information about the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen Uniform Bar Exam highlights why a single test is not ideal for measuring newly licensed lawyers’ competency, demonstrating the need for collaborative development, implementation and reform processes, says Gregory Bordelon at Suffolk University.

  • A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations

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    As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.

  • Strategies For ICE Agent Misconduct Suits In The 11th Circ.

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    Attorneys have numerous pathways to pursue misconduct claims against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Eleventh Circuit, and they need not wait for the court to correct its misinterpretation of a Federal Tort Claims Act exception, says Lauren Bonds at the National Police Accountability Project.

  • DOJ Consumer Branch's End Leaves FDA Litigation Questions

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    With the dissolution of the U.S. Department of Justice's Consumer Protection Branch set to occur by Sept. 30, companies must carefully monitor how responsibility is reallocated for civil and criminal enforcement cases related to products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Cos. Must Tailor Due Diligence As Trafficking Risks Increase

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    As legislators, prosecutors and plaintiffs attorneys increasingly focus on labor and sex trafficking throughout the U.S., companies must tailor their due diligence strategies to protect against forced labor trafficking risks in their supply chains, say attorneys at Steptoe.

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