Overcriminalization in NY State Law

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:09:49 +0000

Last week, I noted the case of a people-search website that was accused of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act when it hadn’t set out to do credit reporting in the first place.

That was a mere regulatory case with the FTC. But regulatory violations often boil over into criminal cases, and these too can take defendants by surprise. The more crimes there are, the harder it is to be sure you’re not committing one.

Overcriminalization is not just a problem with federal law. In an op-ed published today, James R. Copland of the Manhattan Institute addresses some egregious points of New York law:

In some cases . . .

My blog post continues: http://www.atlassociety.org/brc/blog/2012/06/19/overcriminalization-ny-state-law

Copland’s op-ed: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/ny_prosecutors_have_too_much_power_SeMhQhqw9TSmInggFsDdZO#ixzz1yFC4ZJVm

Gupta prosecution rests

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 02:13:33 +0000

I’ve argued that insider trading ought to be legal, and that we ought to care about Rajat Gupta because he is being prosecuted for violating an unjust law, so I’ve posted to my blog from time to time about the Gupta trial.

Here’s my latest: an update on the occasion of the prosecution’s resting its case — and the defense saying Gupta may testify.

A Health Insurance Speech Mandate

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:36:14 +0000

ObamaCare requires insurers to send out rebates and emphasize that the checks are the fruit of “the Affordable Care Act–the health reform law.” Are insurers being forced to publish a campaign ad? http://www.atlassociety.org/brc/blog/2012/05/14/health-insurance-speech-mandate

George Lucas Strikes Back

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:34:40 +0000

People’s genuine interests don’t conflict, but sometimes their wishes do—and when the law says you can’t produce without permission, sometimes production is stymied. But that doesn’t mean producers are helpless, and the man who put swordfighters on spaceships may have found a response that will give his neighbors a taste of regret…

http://www.atlassociety.org/brc/blog/2012/05/14/george-lucas-strikes-back

Waiting for Gershon

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:30:22 +0000

by Alexander R. Cohen | Dec 29, 2011

“The law’s delay” is proverbial; there are snails sculpted on the flagpoles at the Supreme Court. But how long should a person sit in prison waiting for the court that convicted him to decide whether what he was convicted of doing was actually a crime? Bradley J. Stinn’s lawyers think he’s been waiting too long—and they’ve asked an appellate court to order Judge Nina Gershon to make a decision.

On March 24, 2008, Stinn was convicted—after Judge Gershon removed a dissenting juror—of fraudulently inflating the financial data of the jewelry-store business he was running, thus deceiving investors. As his attorneys see it, this was just the sort of “honest services” fraud that the Supreme Court ruled, in the Skilling case, wasn’t actually prohibited: Stinn wasn’t accused of taking bribes or kickbacks, nor was his gain some victim’s loss; the only money he received was his salary and bonus. . . .

http://www.atlassociety.org/brc/blog/2011/12/29/waiting-gershon