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Atlanta Federal Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

U.S. Senator's tough talk on crime: pure political posturing?

United States Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has stepped front and center in national media publications recently with his announcement that he will use all his clout and political capital to help "crush" Chicago's street gangs.

Kirk says that a state and federal crackdown reminiscent of the late 1920s and early 1930s campaign that brought down famed gangster Al Capone is necessary to clean up Chicago's streets. Impliedly, the tactic can be used as a guideline to help fight against drug trafficking and related drug crimes in other cities and states.

Is Computer Fraud and Abuse Act misapplied, too heavy handed?

In 2011, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta considered the case of a man accused of a federal crime, namely, using his employer's database to obtain information about his former spouse and girlfriend. The defendant was charged under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The court upheld the one-year prison term the man had received at trial.

Critics of that result will readily note a number of instances in other courts across the country where dissimilar results issued. In an appellate ruling from California last year, for example, a judge's panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that a worker could not be prosecuted under the CFAA for downloading a confidential source list, an act that violated company policy prohibiting use of work computers for purposes not connected to business. The court stated that workers across the country routinely use company computers for a variety of personal reasons and that prosecuting the man would be an act of selective enforcement.

Judge rejects mandatory prison term in minor's child porn case

In what a federal judge termed "the sensible cooperation of prosecutor, defense, experts and the court to save rather than destroy an adolescent" charged with a federal crime involving child pornography, a young man was sentenced to straight probation rather than prison.

Senior United States District Judge Jack B. Weinstein's May 1 sentencing order considered "and rejected" a prison term for the now 22-year-old man, noting that probation was the optimal outcome in his case and that it provided him the best chance to succeed in therapy, at school and on the job and as a "law-abiding member of society."

Judge offers primer on search warrant requirements; slaps FBI

A search warrant is, in effect, a document that is supposed to balance the needs of law enforcement and the individual. The government wants something -- whether drugs, documents, evidence of foul play or myriad other things it states are illegal or promote illegality -- and the individual wants the comfort of knowing that he or she will not be illegally harassed or abused by the actions requested under the warrant.

A recent warrant request by the FBI in a case of suspected bank fraud sufficiently troubled a federal magistrate to the point where he ensured that his order denying the request was made public in a 13-page document excoriating the government.

Rights group: Sex offender lists unfairly target many children

Although it is often said that the juvenile justice system is driven by a different approach than the adult system and geared toward different aims, the outcome essentially converges in some instances where individuals are unfairly targeted and stigmatized over the long term.

Take the case of juvenile crimes that result in minors being placed on sex-offender registries. Many persons who have closely studied such registries -- both advocates of them overall and critics -- note that some youthful offenders do indeed commit serious crimes that reasonably identify them as dangerous persons and likely to offend again. In some cases, there is little disagreement that a person might be likely to commit crime again and that the public is protected at least in part by a requirement that such person be placed on a registry.

Ricin arrest: Feds say they are confident the second time around

As the above post title implies, federal investigators were less than certain regarding their initial suspicions that led them to the wrong man in the recent poisonous letters incident regarding the deadly powder ricin.

They say they got it right the second time, with a Mississippi man currently under arrest for sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama, a Mississippi senator and another public official.

What stands out for some commentators on the matter is the active role played by the first man's criminal defense attorney, who told reporters after a hearing last week that "not one single shred of evidence was found to indicate [her client] could have done this."

U.S. Supreme Court: no deportation based on Georgia pot conviction

Following is a story that manifestly reveals the stringent nature of Georgia's drug laws and the potentially draconian outcome of a drug crimes case following conviction on a charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

In 2007, a Jamaican citizen and legal immigrant was arrested by police in Georgia after they discovered marijuana in his car during a traffic stop. The amount was small -- 1.3 grams, described by United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as "the equivalent of about two or three marijuana cigarettes."

List grows of states, municipalities changing marijuana laws

As this blog has noted in prior posts, Georgia has comparatively harsh laws in place addressing drug crimes, even drug charges involving first-time non-violent offenders caught with small amounts of marijuana intended for personal use.

According to the Georgia Campaign for Access, Reform and Education (CARE), state law enforcement officials arrested as many as 40,000 persons on marijuana-related charges in the state in 2011. That advocacy groups says that the state's hard-line response strains prison resources, costs millions of unnecessary dollars and hurts rather than helps offenders, given its punitive thrust.

A growing number of people and advocacy organizations in other states are voicing similar views, the result being that material changes in marijuana laws have been made in a number of jurisdictions.

High-profile Americans petition president for prison reform

Many Americans might fail this Jeopardy-type question: Which country incarcerates more people than any other nation on earth, both in terms of absolute numbers and inmates per capita?

That answer, confirmed through multiple and diverse sources, is, sadly, the United States.

Many of those prisoners, both in the federal prison system and incarcerated in the various states, are first-time non-violent offenders serving time -- often extremely lengthy sentences imposed under sentencing guidelines -- following their conviction on drug charges such as marijuana possession or distribution.

Opinion: Georgia drug law, similar enactments, unfair to poor

Commentators from the American Civil Liberties Union have taken aim at what they call "insidious interests" underlying legislation that has arisen in many states -- including, centrally, Georgia -- targeting poor and needy families in a selective manner exempting other groups.


What the ACLU and other advocacy groups view with disdain and growing concern are laws like what they call Georgia's "charmingly named" Social Responsibility and Accountability Act passed last year. That law requires that applicants seeking help under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program submit to drug testing even in the absence of probable cause in order to obtain benefits.

The ACLU states that the underlying premise of that requirement is that particularly needy people in the United States need to be singled out vis a vis other groups that receive government benefits. The requirement implies that the poor and needy are more susceptible of drug use and will use benefit money to buy marijuana, methamphetamine and other drugs, or perhaps use the money to engage in drug distribution or drug trafficking.

Cultural Issues in Criminal Defense Litigation Strategies for Internet Pornography Cases

Attorney Shein is a contributing author to each of these publications. Click on a publication icon to learn more.

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