Legal Radar

22 Prisoners Granted Clemency by Barack Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama commuted sentences of 22 drug offenders, with 8 of them currently serving life sentences.

Those same individuals were serving time for criminal offenses which include distribution of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.

The White House said the federal drug law changes prompted such commutations to be a matter of justice and fairness.

Obama also took the step of writing a letter for each commuted recipients, telling them to make the most of their rare freedom.

The commutation is part of Obama’s push to overturn some harsher parts of the never-ending war on drugs.

In 2014, the Obama administration made a new clemency initiative announcement made to free non-violent drug criminals who have clean prison records, are not a threat to the public, and without any ties to crime or gangs.

Obama also showed interest in going for a bipartisan sentencing reform, which have bonded conservative and progressive groups in the last few years.

Judge Temporarily Halts AG’s Google Investigation

Early this week, a federal judge agreed to temporarily halt an investigation carried out by an attorney general on Google, giving the American search-engine firm a small victory in a heavy feud against law enforcement agencies regarding internet privacy.

Judge Henry T. Wingate granted a preliminary injunction request from Google, which prevented Attorney General Jim Hood from pursuing a subpoena meant to closely review as to whether or not Google is encouraging illegal activities on its own websites. The injunction also prevents Hood from filing criminal charges in the meantime.

Last year, Hood’s office sent a subpoena to Google asking for details on its advertising and search practices ranging from banned materials to human trafficking to copyright-protected content.

Google’s attorney argued that the subpoena is violation of the federal law that protects search engines from suits looking to hold them responsible for failing to screen content made by third parties. The search giant also said the investigation is targeting the protected speech of the constitution.

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.

Court of Appeals Reminds Judge Not to Act as Prosecutor

Federal Judges wouldn’t want to be bothered with low-level crimes that could’ve been prosecuted in the state court. Monti L. Belot, a Senior U.S. District Judge, expressed this in a pointed way.

Last year, he dumped a case from the Justice Department against two Kansas residents facing weapon and drug charges.

But the 10^th U.S. Circuit appeals court gave him a reminder that the decision to filing federal charges is the job of the executive branch.

A federal district judge may deny an indictment when a prosecutor misconduct has influenced a decision of the grand jury to file charges.

The court ruling reinstated charges made against Mr. Walker and Ms. Johnson. Their case grew as a result of a police search in their trash bins, after acquiring a tip that Walker was doing drug deals.

The search led to over 20 grams of cocaine, pain relievers, and a handgun. Walker and Johnson were indicted on charges last year.

The reinstated case will make its way back to Belot’s court.

Craigslist Amicus Brief Submitted by Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) has just submitted an Amicus Brief in support of the lawsuit against Craigslist filed by Sheriff Dart of Cook County, Illinois seeking to hold them accountable for their role in facilitating sex trafficking. CATW's Amicus Brief contains an impressive list of 31 co-signers representing a wide range of domestic and international members of the anti-human trafficking movement.

The goal of the law suit is singular: close the 'adult services' section of Craigslist. "It is well known that Craigslist's 'adult services' section has become the technological red light district for pimps/traffickers and johns," says CATW's Co-Executive Director, Norma Ramos, Esq.

"Sheriff Dart's Craigslist lawsuit requests the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to compel Craigslist to no longer host these ads. In doing so an industry standard could be set which would help create a human trafficking-free Internet," says CATW's Founder, Dorchen Leidholdt, Esq.

"For far too long, Craigslist has been profiting from the facilitation of the prostitution and trafficking of women and minors in Cook County. It is time this website be held accountable for the harm that they continually enable," says Rachel Durchslag, Executive Director of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE).

"Craigslist continues to cynically profit from the rank exploitation of others by functioning as an online pimp," says Ms. Ramos. Our Amicus Brief, prepared by CATW's pro bono law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP, demonstrates the widespread support for Sheriff Dart's bold legal efforts to hold Craigslist accountable.

To view CATW's Amicus Brief go to our website at

www.catwinternational.org

SOURCE The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)