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Defendant’s conviction for illegally reentering the U.S. is affirmed, where Defendant waived his argument that the District Court erred by expanding the indictment, because he stipulated to the prior deportations at issue during trial. Read US v. Cruz-Rodriguez, No. 07-4083 Appellate Information Filed on June 24, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Holmes Counsel For Appellant: Scott Keith Wilson, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Salt Lake City, UT Steven B. Killpack, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Salt Lake City, UT...

In an obstruction of justice prosecution, the restitution portion of Defendant’s sentence is affirmed, where 1) the district court’s application of the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act to determine defendant’s restitution obligation did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause; and 2) the plea colloquy indicated that the parties intended to include a broader range of acts in the offense of conviction than those related solely to the conspiracy to obstruct the grand jury investigation....

It’s beginning to look like voter’s rights week in the Supreme Court. Monday, the Court granted a petition for certiorari to consider Arizona’s proof of citizenship requirement for prospective voters. Tuesday, the Court rejected Ohio’s request to limit early voting before the November election. First, let’s discuss the grant. Arizona voters passed Proposition 200, a ballot initiative designed to stop illegal immigrants from voting, in 2004. The measure amended state election laws to require voters to show “satisfactory evidence” of U....

Aunt Becky’s Accomplice Pleads Guilty Robert Kraft Gets Off (On a Technicality?) Tiger Woods and Girlfriend Named in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Dennis Rodman, a Yoga Studio, and a 4,000-lb Amethyst Crystal A Yoga Studio Accused Dennis Rodman of Stealing a 400-Pound Amethyst Crystal (Vanity Fair) Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Charged in Florida Sex Trafficking Sting (FindLaw’s Tarnished Twenty) College Coaches Indicted in Admissions Bribery Scandal (FindLaw’s Tarnished Twenty) Tiger Woods Arrested on Suspicion of Drugged Driving (FindLaw’s Tarnished Twenty) You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help Civil Rights Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court...

“Hey man, I’ve got that really good stuff here. You know you want it.” You proceed to buy the drugs, but then your “dealer” reveals himself to be an undercover police officer. “You can’t do that, that’s entrapment!” you shout at the cop. Except, you probably don’t really know what entrapment means — and you’re going to jail. Defining ‘Entrapment’ Entrapment occurs when a government agent persuades or influences you to commit a crime that you otherwise would not have committed....

On March 27, the 94th Academy Awards made history in dramatic fashion. After Chris Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hairstyle, Will Smith charged the stage and slapped Rock across the face in front of millions of viewers. While the incident didn’t prevent Smith from receiving the Best Actor nod for his role in “King Richard,” he theoretically could face other consequences under California law (the incident occurred in Los Angeles) and the American Academy of Motion Picture’s conduct code....

On April 21, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Justice Department will begin an investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department for unlawful practices. Five days later, he said DOJ would be doing the same with the Louisville Police Department. If this sounds like the DOJ has suddenly become unusually activist by swooping in to launch critical examinations of local police departments, think again. Over the last 25 years, the DOJ has investigated dozens of police departments....

In-house compliance lawyers and general counsel at forward-thinking companies looking to capitalize on the crypto-boom will be thrilled to learn that a subcommittee of the ABA Derivatives and Futures Law Committee has issued a white paper discussing nearly all existing regulations covering cryptocurrencies The white paper is more than just “some guidance” on cryptocurrency, too. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, it’s a long read. White Paper Explains It All From federal to state laws, to pertinent laws across the globe, the wild wild west days of cryptocurrency are quickly drawing to a close as the regulators regulate....

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part a lower court’s decision regarding the sentencing and release conditions of an autistic man, Stephen Morais, who was sentenced by a district court on two counts of receiving child pornography. Morais’ appeal challenged the term of his imprisonment, the imposed fine and two special conditions of his supervised release. On appeal, the 8th Circuit affirmed the term of the sentence, the fine and one of the special conditions....

In a negligence action against a company that led hunting expeditions, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where the action was untimely under Wyoming’s professional malpractice statute of limitations, and Plaintiffs received adequate notice of the statute of limitations defense and had ample opportunity to respond. Read Bylin v. Billings, No. 08-8026 Appellate Information Filed May 27, 2009 Judges Judge Kelly delivered the opinion of the Court. Counsel For Plaintiffs:...

Can a county or a municipality refuse or restrict entry to outsiders? Or even kick them out although they have residences there? That question has arisen with the spread of COVID-19 as several counties in Colorado and elsewhere have taken various steps to keep out outsiders, including those who own second residences within their boundaries, out. People in the U.S. have a right to travel freely and buy second homes wherever they want....

In US v. Neff, No. 08-3643, the Seventh Circuit faced a challenge to a conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon and an enhanced sentence based on defendant’s status as an armed career criminal. First, the court addressed the issue of the time limits in Rule 4(b) and concluded that it is a claim-processing rule, rather than jurisdictional, that can be forfeited. The court then addressed defendant’s claim that Amendment 709 was clarifying and that it applied retroactively to reduce his sentence....

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has inspired a legion of think pieces about the long-term effects of a sharp shift to the right in the court’s ideological alignment. But very shortly, Ginsburg’s death could have a large effect on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare. After upholding the law in 2012, the high court will again scrutinize the law, with arguments scheduled to occur the week after the election....

District court’s entry of a civil contempt order against defendant for violations of a prior permanent injunction enjoining him from using deceptive and misleading sales practices is affirmed where: 1) district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s motion for a hearing on the issue of damages and disgorgement as he was afforded due process during the civil contempt proceedings and was given notice and ample opportunity to be heard on the issues of damages and disgorgement, as well as on the issue of FTC’s calculation of his profits from the scheme; 2) district court did not abuse its discretion or err in adopting the receiver’s calculation of defendant’s proceeds; 3) defendant’s challenge to the district court’s order compelling him to turn over property in Nevada is rejected; and 4) there was no error in ordering defendant to turn over assets in his IRA....

In US v. Cheeseman, No. 09-1756, the Third Circuit faced a challenge to a conviction for violating 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(3), criminalizing possession of firearms and ammunition by an unlawful user or an addict of a controlled substance. The defendant argued that the district court’s judgment ordering asset forfeiture of over 600 firearms and ammunition was improper because the property subject to the forfeiture was neither involved in, or used in a knowing violation of section 922(g)(3)....

There is a lot of data tied up in the location of your cell phone – far more than just a dot on a map. “Mapping a cell phone’s location … provides an all-encompassing record of the holder’s whereabouts,” the Supreme Court noted last year, when it ruled that police need a warrant to obtain such location information. “As with GPS information, the timestamped data provides an intimate window into a person’s life, revealing not only his particular movements, but through them his ‘familial, political, professional, religious, and sexual associations....

When it’s your time to go, how do you want to be remembered? Slow down, we’re not talking about that time. We’re talking about the day you decide to call it quits. Cash in your vacation pay. Tell the boss to …. Seriously, there is a right way and wrong way to say goodbye to your colleagues. Here are some dos and don’ts so they won’t be dancing on your grave when you’re gone:...

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld subsidies passed by the state of Illinois in 2016 to support clean and nuclear energy producers in the state. The state law, as the challengers alleged, allowed in state energy producers to undercut out of state producers in the federally regulated interstate energy auction markets, thereby violating a federal law preventing states from interfering with interstate energy commerce. However, as the appellate court found, the Illinois law didn’t infringe upon the interstate energy trade as much as it just gave in state producers more of an incentive to produce clean energy....

If you thought America’s roll-back of net neutrality was the death of a free internet, you don’t want to go to Europe. European lawmakers have approved new copyright laws that could change the internet forever. Google, YouTube, and other major internet platforms have foreseen it. The new laws would make them police copyright infringement and pay for it, too. The sky isn’t falling yet, but the future of the internet is definitely cloudy....

The University of Montana School of Law will celebrate its centennial anniversary this week with a judicially star-studded event. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will sit with judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear arguments in a special session at the University of Montana Law School in Missoula, Mont. on September 1, 2011. United States v. W. Bear, United States v. A. Bear, in which Wallene Mary Bear and her niece, Amber Bear, appeal the denial of motions to suppress evidence, after which they entered into conditional guilty pleas to charges related to distribution of methamphetamine....