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Punishing the Parent – Should the Parents of a School Shooter Be Criminally Liable for their Parental Failures?
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April 16, 2024
Punishing the Parent – Should the Parents of a School Shooter Be Criminally Liable for their Parental Failures?
By: Abbey Block
Can being a bad parent make you a criminal? A jury in Michigan recently answered yes in the case of Jennifer and James Crumbley – the parents of high school mass shooter, Ethan Crumbley. Although neither Mr. nor Mrs. Crumbley fired a single shot during the school shooting that killed four students (and injured six other people), last week they were each sentenced to ten years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The high school shooting, which took place nearly three years ago in Oxford, Michigan is undoubtedly a horrific tragedy. Nobody questions that the shooter, Ethan, should be punished severely for his actions. Indeed, in 2023, Ethan, who was charged as an adult (despite being fifteen at the time of…
Was FTX Collapse as Bad as Enron? In sentencing SBF, Judge Kaplan Says Yes
April 1, 2024
Was FTX Collapse as Bad as Enron? In sentencing SBF, Judge Kaplan Says Yes
By: Jeffrey Hamlin
On Thursday, March 28, 2024, 32-year old Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history—a fraud perpetrated through two cryptocurrency entities he founded—FTX and Alameda Research. In late-2023, a jury convicted him on various conspiracy and substantive counts for wire fraud on FTX’s customers, securities fraud on FTX’s customers and investors,…
A Tale of Two Courts
February 16, 2024
A Tale of Two Courts
By: James Trusty
Much has been made of the contemptuous and combustible combination of former President Trump and Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoran, the trial judge in the New York “fraud” case that imperils Trump’s ability to do business in New York. This week we got a glimpse into a different proceeding involving an extremely opinionated subject of an accusation—District Attorney Fanni Willis—presided over by Fulton County…
Human Trafficking Blindspot
November 27, 2023
Human Trafficking Blindspot
By: James Trusty
For many years now, state and federal prosecutors have become increasingly aware of the insidious nature of sexual and labor trafficking. Victimization is cultivated by strong, threatening, and cunning traffickers. Gangs have increasingly turned to sex trafficking as a source of illicit income with low visibility—a trade that does not “bring the heat” to the criminal enterprise in the same way that drug trafficking and…
Equal Justice as Another Casualty of War
November 9, 2023
Equal Justice as Another Casualty of War
By: James Trusty
While many Americans properly focus on the carnage and chaos of two wars, there is also a more subtle war being waged by progressive mayors—and others in high positions—on fundamentally important notions like Rule of Law and Equal Justice. Last weekend over 100,000 protesters descended upon Washington, D.C. to chant and vandalize as a bewildering show of support for Hamas, an entity that demonstrates its…
Reading the Plea Leaves
October 25, 2023
Reading the Plea Leaves
By: James Trusty
Are guilty pleas in Fulton County confirming the righteousness of Fani Willis’ RICO prosecution or do they reflect an inherent frailty of the case, even in a venue where jurors largely can be expected to instinctively support a prosecution of high-profile Republicans? A close look at the recent plea agreements suggests that prosecutorial victory laps are premature. While the indictment itself has joined the ranks…
Not a Grande Victory for DOJ
September 13, 2023
Not a Grande Victory for DOJ
By: James Trusty
Frustrated with the massive influx of aliens into Texas, Texas Governor Greg Abbott came up with a plan that was physically simple, but legally complex: drop a 1000-foot-long buoy barrier into the middle of the Rio Grande. The four-foot spherical orange buoys were chained together and anchored to the riverbed near the town of Eagle Pass—a sector that reported 270,000 encounters with migrants during the…
When Acquitted Conduct Becomes Untouchable
July 27, 2023
When Acquitted Conduct Becomes Untouchable
By: James Trusty
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was never prosecuted for murder, so there was never a jury determining whether Al was responsible for the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in which seven gang rivals were executed by Capone’s underlings. Instead, “Scarface” Capone was prosecuted and convicted for felony tax evasion offenses, for which he received 11 years in prison. Since that conviction in 1931, the concept of “getting…
