Illinois Senate Bill Would Prohibit Raw Odor of Marijuana Justifying Police Search As we have previously covered, given a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling, there are different standards for when the smell of raw cannabis, in contrast to burnt cannabis, (standing...
Felonies
Popularity of Cryptocurrencies Invites Regulation
Crime Rate of Cryptoassets Continues to Grow According to a report by the crypto research firm Chainalysis, it estimates that the amount of cryptocurrency that can be tied to illicit activity or scams in 2024 could ultimately end up topping $51 billion, up from an...
Supreme Court Signals Further Change to Felon Firearm Cases
Supreme Court Vacates Decision of 11th Circuit to Uphold Conviction Earlier this week the United States Supreme Court reversed the decision of the 11th Circuit of Appeals to uphold the conviction of a man for being a felon in possession of a firearm, but declined to...
Supreme Court Upholds Ability for Federal Government to Regulate Ghost Guns
7-2 Majority Finds ATF Can Regulate Ghost Gun Part Manufacturers As we have previously covered, multiple times, the United States Supreme Court was weighing a challenge to the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) to regulate...
Attorney General Seeks Mechanism to Restore Individual’s Gun Rights
Federal Government to Review Gun Prohibitions for People with Stale Convictions As we have previously covered, there are ongoing efforts to review gun prohibitions for certain individuals in light of recent Supreme Court decisions. Recently, the Department of Justice...
Law Enforcement Utilizing Facial Recognition Technology
Man Arrested After Facial Recognition Software Match A Chicago resident, Phillip Akins, was recently charged with first-degree murder after investigators connected him to a murder last summer utilizing facial recognition software that matched him to a surveillance...
DOJ Continues to Focus on Cryptocurrency Crackdowns
Latest Seizure and Charges Announced Against Russian-Based Exchange As we have previously covered, despite headlines that the federal government is softening it’s position on cryptocurrency and lessening enforcement, it still appears focused on the cryptocurrency...
Further Tension Between Marijuana Users and Their Gun Rights
Multiple Federal and State Cases Highlight Confusing Regulatory Landscape As we have previously covered, courts have been struggling to grapple with regulations surrounding marijuana users and the application of federal rules that forbid drug users from owning and...
Infant Death Prosecutions and Junk Science
Panel of Experts Question Flawed Evidence Used to Convict Nurse of Killing Babies In 2023 Lucy Letby, a neonatal nurse in the UK, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others in the hospital she worked at, for which she received...
Madigan Found Guilty of Corruption Charges
Former Illinois House Speaker Found Guilty on 10 of 23 Charges Michael Madigan, once the longest serving legislator in United States history, was recently found guilty on 10 of the 23 criminal counts of an indictment in a highly publicized public corruption trial. The...