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Ellen S. Podgor, Incorporating Transnational Law in First Year Criminal Law and Procedure Classes, 56 J. Legal Educ. 444 (2006)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Book Review, Money Laundering and Legal Globalization: Where Does the United States Stand on this Issue?, 5 Wash. U. Global Stud. L. Rev. 151 (2006)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Arthur Andersen, LLP and Martha Stewart: Should Materiality Be an Element of Obstruction of Justice?, 44 Washburn L.J. 583 (2005)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
Obstruction of justice, with its many different statutes, is a crime that prosecutors can use with relative ease. It covers a wide breadth of activity and has few limitations. This paper examines the prosecutorial use of obstruction charges in the cases of Martha Stewart and Arthur Andersen, LLP. Although the statutes differed in these two prosecutions, with Arthur Andersen, LLP., prosecuted for the crime of obstruction of justice under 18 U.S.C. Section 1512, and Martha Stewart, prosecuted for several criminal charges including obstruction of justice under 18 U.S.C. Section 1505, both demonstrate how prosecutors can leave unfinished the original activity that was the subject of investigation to proceed with the easier obstruction charge.
This article provides a way to restrict prosecutors in their use of the crime of obstruction of justice when it is used solely for expediency purposes. In essence, it reads in an element of materiality as required for this crime in a manner similar to how the Supreme Court included materiality for fraud prosecutions. By adding an element of materiality as a requirement for an obstruction conviction, prosecutors are forced to complete investigations that can be completed on the substantive charges. In contrast, investigations that cannot continue because the obstructive conduct precludes continuation because of either destruction of evidence or intimidation of witnesses, still have available the ability to appropriately punish the activity via a charge of obstruction of justice.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Foreword, Overcriminalization: The Politics of Crime, 54 Am. U. L. Rev. 541 (2005)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Jose Padilla and Martha Stewart: Who Should Be Charged with Criminal Conduct?, 109 Penn St. L. Rev. 1059 (2005)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Cybercrime-Cyberterrorism, 19 Nouvelles Études Penale 283 (2004)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Cybercrime: National, Transnational, or International?, 50 Wayne L. Rev. 97 (2004)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Department of Justice Guidelines: Balancing “Discretionary Justice”, 13 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 167 (2004)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
Prosecutors are afforded enormous discretion in a multitude of decisions. Internal guidelines of the Department of Justice (DOJ) assist federal prosecutors in making the decisions that fall within their discretionary realm. Although these guidelines are policy statements and not legislative rules, they offer an element of consistency to the decision-making process, provide education for newcomers to the department, and can serve as a restraint on prosecutorial discretion.
Prosecutors do not always adhere to these internal guidelines. This article studies ways to achieve better compliance. It examines remedies that achieve a balance between continuing the practice of having guidelines and yet also having meaningful policies that are adhered to by department employees.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Gideon at 40: Facing the Crisis, Fulfilling the Promise, 41 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 131 (2004)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Book Review, Murder and the Reasonable Man, 27 Champion (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.