Legal Radar

SC Shoots Down Prosecutors in Fisherman Case

In a recent court ruling this week, a court mentioned that prosecutors made the wrong move in applying the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance law to a fisherman suspected of eliminating evidence which involved taking in undersized fish.

When Congress deemed it criminal to destroying or covering up any object with any intention of obstructing a probe, it didn’t mean the law would be applicable to creatures of the sea, according to the court.

The Sarbanes-Oxley law, which was passed due to accounting issues on public-traded firms, prevents the destruction of business documents and records as evidence. It has no application on the fisherman’s claimed destruction of his catch.

The case involved John Yates, a Florida-based fisherman who was caught red-handed with a 72 grouper on what seemed to be smaller than the minimum standard size limit. Ignoring a wildlife officer, Yates instructed his fishing crew to toss the grouper and replace it with a bigger one. Yates faced 20 years of prison time for the destruction and concealing undersized fish that obstructed a federal probe.

M15 Agents Depicts Surveillance of Accused al Qaeda Operative

Four M15 agents appeared on the stand in disguise at a Brooklyn federal court early this week to describe their observation of a man accused of taking part in a plot to bomb targets in Denmark, New York City, and England.

Abid Naseer, 28 years of age, is fighting off charges of offering support to terrorists, conspiracy to give support, and conspiracy to creating a destructive weapon related to the plots.

The agents offered testimony on Naseer’s activity in March and April of 2009. They’ve described Naseer’s general movement in England.

All four agents were dressed in professional attire and sported glasses. Three of the four agents had beards.

The first agent who appeared on the stand was young-looking and looked slender. He identified himself with another alias: Officer 1661. He admitted of spying on Naseer for one whole month of 2009 as part of a covert operation called “Operation Pathway.” The operation involved keeping track of Naseer’s movements and whereabouts in Manchester, England.

Jury: Palestinian Authority Responsible for Attacks

A federal jury made the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization responsible for aiding in several terrorist attacks in Israel more than ten years ago. They were ordered to pay $218.5 million to the families of victims.

The decision early this week arrived on the second day of jury deliberations and after several weeks of testimony against the U.S.-based Palestinian political apparatus.

The trial began on a lawsuit filed in 2004 under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act, which lets American victims of international terrorism to find justice in a federal court.

The Manhattan federal court jury found that the Palestinian Authority as well as the PLO should be responsible for a number of attacks in Israel in the early 2000s, which killed over 30 individuals, and wounded hundreds of others.

Palestinian leader tried shooting down the lawsuit for years, saying the U.S. courts have no power on them. Instead, U.S. District Judge George Daniels pushed to resume trial.

Federal Charges Dropped Against George Zimmerman

Attorney General Eric Holder said early this week that the Justice Department won’t file federal charges against George Zimmerman, an ex-neighborhood watch volunteer, regarding the 2012 death of Treyvon Martin in Florida.

The acquittal of Zimmerman on Martin’s death, an unarmed black teen, triggered calls by numerous groups including ACLU, NAACP, and countless other to encourage legal action. It was expected that a federal investigation would end up facing plenty of obstacles.

To start the legal battle, federal prosecutors would need to prove that Zimmerman had the racial hatred and motivation when Martin was shot, according to legal experts.

Zimmerman, a Hispanic, shot Martin to death within a gated community in Florida. Prosecutors claimed Zimmerman was profiling Martin as a criminal and creating a physical struggle that led to the teen’s death. Defense attorneys objected by saying Martin was the primary aggressor, punching Zimmerman, scuffing him to the ground, and smashing his head on a walkway.

Privacy Groups Tackling Dutch Data Retention Law Head On

A group involving attorneys, privacy advocates, and journalists early this week are urging the Dutch court to shoot down a data-retention law allows the government to easily access telecommunication data it believes can fight off crime and terrorism.

The same group is asking the District Court of The Hague to carry out a preliminary injunction and formally declare the law to be unconstitutional.

The Hague court is expected to make a ruling on the issue by next month.

The suit is the latest in the past decade of legal hurdles to the data-retention law across Europe.

In the Netherlands, where the law was carried out in 2009, data must be left stored for up to one year.

The Dutch government is looking to expand surveillance capability following the latest terrorist attacks in Copenhagen and Paris as well as an increase in homegrown radical Muslims.

Ivo Opstelten, the Dutch minister of security and justice, indicated that data storage is essential to monitoring Jihadist groups and other crime types including child porn networks.

Local Law School Professors Blasting Sex Assault Policy

An Ivy League university is being criticized from its own law professors regarding school procedures for dealing with sexual assault complaints against students.

More than a dozen professors from Pennsylvania Law School signed a letter objecting the university’s latest sexual misconduct policy, which they believe doesn’t protect the rights of the accused. The publicly-exposed letter comes in the heels of a similar incident by professors at the Harvard Law School.

Penn professors are also troubled that the accused students are barred from getting an attorney to cross-examine witnesses against them.

A representative from the university’s administration defended the school’s policies.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has given instructions to schools to utilize the preponderance of evidence standard in handling sexual misconduct situations.

The Pennsylvania Law School isn’t among the number of colleges being looked into by the agency for investigation or dealing with any sexual abuse complaints. 

Obama to Appeal on Immigration Ruling

A decision by the federal judge to temporarily halt Obama’s immigration methods handed Republicans its first short-term victory, while leaving more than 4 million illegal immigrants out in the cold.

The Obama dministration indicated it would appeal on the recent ruling made by District Judge Andrew Hanen, a Republican from Brownsville, Texas. It halts immigration actions carried out by President Barack Obama, which has been challenged as unconstitutional in a suit filed by Texas and over a dozen other states.

Hanen said the Obama administration is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Lawyers for immigration-rights groups indicated the issue is about whether the administration can fulfill a duty to post the policy for a certain period before issuing it.

The White House fiercely defected the president’s executive actions by saying that the congress and U.S. Supreme Court have federal officials who can create priorities regarding immigration laws.

Hanen made an order for parties to meet again in February 27 to talk about the current lawsuit.

New Report Shows PC-Espionage Tactics by U.S.

A latest report from a Russian-based computer security firm provides good and bad news for American intelligence agencies.

A report by Kaspersky Lab seems to show that U.S. spies can hack in just about anything in the world, as well as a pre-programmed code that allows a hard drive to function.

Kaspersky didn’t mention any names of the agencies in its report. But it labelled the group of hackers as the “Equation Group” --- due to its advanced encryption usage.

The report gives a details of computer espionage tactics by American firms deployed by the National Security Agency.

U.S. officials indicated the tactics shown in the report to be similar to that of previous espionage operations carried out.

Tools shown in the report were said to have been used against think tanks, telecommunications, governments, and groups from other countries.

Kaspersky said that creating spy tools to penetrate within the hard drive core would entail specialized entry to the driver’s source code. Tech firms in the past were open to hand such details to the NSA.

Revenge Pornography Now a Criminal Act in United Kingdom

Revenge pornography is now deemed a criminal offense in the United Kingdom.

Parliament recently passed a legislation indicating that any individual who passes around sexual images without the consent of the subject and with intentions to trigger harm may be punished with a penalty and a maximum prison time of two years.

The debate has increased in recent years including the widespread use of digital cameras and videos, and easy online uploads.

In the United States, it passed laws that specifically targets the issue. 12 of the country’s states have passed laws in relation to revenge pornography. In certain cases, advocates of free speech fought in return against laws deemed too vague or arguing that current laws regarding copyright and harassment are sufficient.

The law would appear as if the United Kingdom would include elements that regularly allow other countries to adopt such as targeting individuals who have intend to hurt others by uploading or passing images against their will.

Lawmaker Gives Warning on Battle Settlement Documents

The House Judiciary Committee head sent out a warning to the Obama administration in a recent hearing that a possible battle with the Justice Department will happen if they pass on documents regarding its multi-billion dollar settlements with major banks.

Republican lawmakers are inquiring what the $36.6 billion worth of settlement was used to pay for, and are concerned on how some of the funds were used to support left-leaning community groups.

Settlements with major banks such as Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase &Co. resolved claims that such firms misused mortgage-backed securities that led to a financial crisis in 2008.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the committee chairman, aired out his concerns on how the department may end up subverting Congress budget authority by making use of settlements to support activist groups.

Goodlatte also mentioned that officials have yet to surrender documents describing how consumer relief conditions were negotiated.

Geoffrey Graber of the Justice Department said his agency is still in the middle of looking into the request.