The Supreme Court will hear arguments today on two criminal fraud cases that explore whether people who work privately for government officials owe a duty of honest services to the public under what the Wall Street Journal calls “the ill-defined honest-services fraud statute.”

In the first case, former state official Joseph Percoco was serving as campaign manager for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at the time he accepted a $35,000 payment from a real-estate developer to help obtain government approval for a project. The government declared him to be “functionally a public official” because he had clout with state agencies. Thus, the US Attorney said, Joe committed honest-services fraud.

Continue reading “Fraud Takes the Stage at Supreme Court” →

Thanksgiving is one of our favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. So many things become little when we realize how blessed we are.

From Angel Law Prof. L.L.C. to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

A South St. Paul teen shot dead outside his home in a botched drug deal. Bullets peppered throughout a crowded St. Paul bar. A gun stolen from a Ham Lake home fired at motorcyclists less than a half hour later.

Legally bought firearms are showing up at crime scenes in Minnesota — and nationally — faster than ever, in part a reflection of a more concerted effort by law enforcement to trace guns used in crimes back to those who, in some cases, helped deliver them to the shooters.

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State lawmakers might get rid of South Dakota’s requirement that a prison- or jail-impact statement be prepared as part of any proposed legislation or amendment.

The Legislature’s Executive Board voted 12-1 Tuesday to seek a repeal of the eight-year-old law during the 2023 session that opens January 10.

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As results from the midterm elections continue to trickle in, this week our team has a roundup on how some major criminal justice candidates and issues fared, and what the fallout from these races and ballot measures may look like moving forward.

Continue reading “7 Key Criminal Justice Takeaways From the Midterms” →

A land surveyor for Summit Carbon Solutions faces a criminal trial in December for allegedly trespassing on land in northwest Iowa that is part of the company’s proposed carbon dioxide pipeline route, according to court records.

State law allows the land surveys — without the threat of a trespassing charge — after hazardous liquid pipeline companies hold informational meetings about the projects and send notice to landowners.

The surveys are meant to help determine the path and depth of the potential pipelines.

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Iowa Law Professor Mihailis Diamantis and Will Thomas of the Michigan Ross Business School recently asked readers:

Can you name ten corporate criminals?

Bernie Madoff, Martha Stewart and Jeff Skilling don’t count – they are individuals, not businesses.

How about just five? Three?

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With today’s gas prices it might seem like hitching a ride could be a good alternative to forking out a bunch of cash to fill your vehicle’s gas tank. But is hitchhiking even legal in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota?

There was a time in the midwest when hitchhiking was commonplace and mostly safe.

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The estimated number of people who can’t vote in the United States because of a felony conviction has declined by 24% since 2016, but the total is still large, according to a report released Tuesday by the Sentencing Project.

At estimated 4.6 million Americans won’t be able to vote in the 2022 midterm elections because of current or past felonies, which amounts to one out of 50 adults, according to the report, Locked Out 2022: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights Due to a Felony Conviction. An overview is here.

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A sheriff in western Iowa says local, state and federal authorities are “actively investigating” in a rural area where a woman claimed her late father disposed of dozens of bodies of people he killed decades ago.

“We are actively investigating this, and who wouldn’t?” Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope told CNN Affiliate KETV.

“We have a scene, but we don’t know whether it’s a crime scene,” the sheriff told KETV. “We don’t have victims, bodies. Nothing.”

Continue reading “Authorities ‘actively investigating’ after woman claims her late father was a prolific serial killer” →