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Peter J. Henning et al., Mastering Criminal Procedure, Volume 2: The Adjudicatory Stage (3rd ed., Carolina Academic Press, 2020)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Symposium: Corruption is Not a Crime, in SCOTUSblog (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Cryptocurrencies and Securities Fraud: In Need of Legal Guidance, 104 Iowa L. Rev. Online 130 (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
The specificity of statutes is important when the statute provides for criminal penalties. This Essay examines a cryptocurrency fraud prosecution, looking at the issue of whether cryptocurrency is included in securities fraud statutes. It also looks at proposed legislation that would omit cryptocurrency as a security, but then calls for enhanced regulation and tax relief. Additional clarification is needed to ascertain whether cryptocurrency fraud can be prosecuted under current securities fraud statutes. This Essay questions such prosecutions when the location of key definitions rest within agency regulations. Although specificity may not be needed to account for every imaginable type of fraud, when it comes to cryptocurrencies, Congress needs to provide more direction.
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Ellen S. Podgor, A Small Slice of the Chicago Eight Trial, 50 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 821 (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
The Chicago Eight trial was not the typical criminal trial, in part because it occurred at a time of society’s polarization, student demonstrations, and the rise of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Charges were levied against eight defendants, who were individuals that represented leaders in a variety of movements and groups during this time. This Essay examines the opening stages of this trial from the lens of a then relatively new criminal defense attorney, Gerald Lefcourt. It looks at his experiences before Judge Julius Hoffman and highlights how strong, steadfast criminal defense attorneys can make a difference in protecting key constitutional rights and values. Although judicial independence is crucial to a system premised on due process, it is also important that lawyers and law professors stand up to misconduct and improprieties.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Bennett Gershman on the Prosecutor’s Role as “Minister of Justice”, 16 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 399 (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, Bruce Jacob: A leading Voice in Public Defense, 48 Stetson L. Rev. 305 (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
This Essay examines the events that led to Dean Emeritus Bruce Jacob being the recipient of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ (NACDL) prestigious Champion of Indigent Defense Award. Dean Jacob represented the State of Florida in the Gideon v. Wainwright case, arguing for adherence to Betts v. Brady which did not provide the right to counsel for indigent state defendants absent special circumstances. After arguing Gideon in the Supreme Court, he spent much of his career advocating for indigent defendants’ rights to effective assistance of counsel. Although some may find an irony in these two roles, this Essay notes the symmetry when looking at Dean Jacob as a true “minister of justice.”
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Ellen S. Podgor and Louis J. Virelli, Secret Policies, 2019 U. Ill. L. Rev. 463 (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
This Article examines secret agency policies. Clearly when the directives relate to military or national security matters, secrecy is essential. But should the public be viewers of the DACA Manual’s guidance on when administrative relief will be provided to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children by their undocumented parents? What about the Department of Justice policy related to the dismissal of False Claim Act cases or the written procedures that are used by Assistant United States Attorneys in providing criminal discovery to defense counsel? Written policies veiled in secrecy can be detrimental to achieving transparency and legitimacy in government.
In focusing on these written internal policies that do not pertain to a specific legal matter, this Article looks beyond the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and its exemptions. It discusses the need to maintain an appropriate balance between government transparency and the need for some matters to be kept private, and the importance of agency expertise, accountability, and efficiency in determining a need for transparency. Factored into this equation are the ethical repercussions of secret policies when government employees leave the agency with inside information.
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Ellen S. Podgor et al., The Mueller Investigation and Beyond (Carolina Academic Press, 2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor, The 2018 Florida Bar Criminal Justice Summit: A First Step in Improving Florida’s Criminal Justice System, 93 The Florida Bar Journal 9 (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.
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Ellen S. Podgor and Lucian Dervan, Corporations: Stuck with the White Collar Crime Check, 2 Belmont Criminal Law Journal 32 (2019)Clicking on the button will copy the full recommended citation.