New Task Force Announced to Focus on Healthcare The Department of Justice recently unveiled a new task force aiming to root out monopolies and collusion in the healthcare market, including shaping policy decisions, conducting investigations, and, when warranted, bringing civil and criminal enforcement actions. The task force will “identify and root out monopolies and collusive practices that increase costs, decrease quality and create single points of failure in the healthcare industry” Assistance Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said in a statement. In an interview, Kanter went on to say, “To ..read more

Proposed Legislation Would Make It a Felony to Run from Police Under the current law in Illinois, anyone who flees from the police after an attempted traffic stop can only be charged with a misdemeanor for fleeing in their vehicle unless they meet certain aggravating criteria. For example, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer (which is a felony) requires traveling over 21 miles per hour over the speed limit, bodily injury, disobeying two or more traffic control devices, or concealing or altering the vehicle’s registration or digital registration plate.  However, a bil ..read more

Arizona Woman Arrested for Assisting North Korea Infiltrate Major US Companies The Justice Department recently unsealed an indictment against a U.S. citizen and three North Koreans using aliases that engaged in a complex fraud to secure remote employment as software and application developers in a wide range of industries, generating almost $7 million that was then funneled back to North Korea. The U.S. citizen, Christina Chapman, was arrested in her hometown in Arizona and is accused of receiving and hosting laptop computers sent by the various employers to make it appears as though the North ..read more

States Seek to Block Closing of So-Called “Gun Show Loophole” As we’ve discussed in an earlier blog, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) previously sought to close the “gun show loophole” by requiring background checks and/or a license to sell any firearms, and the new rule was set to take effect on May 20, 2024. However, the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah recently filed a lawsuit challenging the new rule, arguing that the rule oversteps the agency’s authority and violates the Second Amendment. “The notion that one must obtain a license in order t ..read more

Illinois State Senator Introduces Legislation to Legalize Psilocybin Earlier this year, Illinois State Senator Rachel Ventura introduced a bill that would legalize psilocybin, often referred to as “magic mushrooms” for adults over the age of 21 in a supervised facility, so long as they meet certain requirements. The bill is modeled after similar laws in Oregon and Colorado, the only two states that have legalized and decriminalized psilocybin at the state level. Much of the emphasize behind the push for legalization concerns its potential use to help those with various mental health issues. “I ..read more

Unanimous Ruling Finds That Prosecutors Have Flexibility on Forfeiture Orders The United States Supreme Court recently held that federal courts can issue criminal forfeiture orders outside the prescribed deadline set by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, resolving a circuit split on the issue. Although the Rules require that the courts enter forfeiture orders before sentencing to allow the defendant to submit revisions or modifications, the recent Court’s ruling effectively states that this rule is not absolute and allows flexibility by the government to bring forfeiture orders at a late ..read more

Video Evidence Exonerated Retired NFL Superstar Michael Irvin, the Hall of Fame wide receiver turned NFL Network analyst, was abruptly taken off the Super Bowl coverage for the network in 2023 after it was alleged that he sexually assaulted a hotel worker at an Arizona Marriot in the days leading up to the championship game. However, he denied the allegations and sued the hotel chain and several workers for defamation, seeking $100 million in damages, after security video footage showed that the allegations were unfounded. The video, which Marriot attempted to prevent from being released, show ..read more

DOJ Announces AI-focused Initiatives In a recent speech, Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced an artificial intelligence (“AI”) initiative that will see the government seek stricter sentences for crimes perpetuated by individuals using artificial intelligence tools. Recognizing the potential dangers and risks in our ever-changing world and how AI could shape its future, she also announced the creation of Justice AI, an initiative that will convene individuals from various areas of expertise and experience on the subject to “understand and prepare for how AI will ..read more

Tipsters Could Receive Payment for Reporting Criminal Misconduct on Corporations The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a pilot program to launch later this year that would see non-culpable whistleblowers receive monetary payments in exchange for information of corporate malfeasance. The program was revealed recently by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco at a legal conference. While there are already avenues for whistleblowers to report to other federal agencies already in place, Monaco stated that the existing programs “are limited in scope,” and “don’t address the full range of corporate ..read more

Prosecutors Dismisses Charges Against Three Men Accused of Stealing Hand Written Notes Containing Hotel California Lyrics Earlier this week, prosecutors abruptly dismissed a case, in the middle of trial, against three men accused of stealing the hand written notes of Eagles co-founder Don Henley that contained the original lyrics for popular songs such as “Hotel California” and others by the band. On trial were three, well-established figures in the collectibles world, who had come into possession of the notes after Henley give them to a writer from a never published Eagles biography, who late ..read more