Fifth installment of a five-part series on Silverglate’s book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. This week, I’ve had the pleasure of guest-blogging on the Conspiracy and expanding upon discussions from my book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. I’ve examined the Supreme Court’s skepticism toward honest […]
Author Archive | Harvey Silverglate
How the “Independent” Fourth Estate Has Failed in its Critical Duty
Fourth installment in a five-part series on Silverglate’s book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. In a discussion on WAMU Radio yesterday, host Kojo Nnamdi noted that vagueness in the federal criminal law has recently made “strange bedfellows” of the political left and right. This same “emerging consensus” was also the […]
Protecting Investors or Prosecuting Innocents? The Dangers of Vagueness in Financial Fraud Laws
Third installment in a five-part series on Silverglate’s book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. “As a result of a burgeoning number of fraud investigations and prosecutions, I have become convinced that a concerted interagency effort is needed. We want to bring this additional firepower to bear on behalf of investors […]
Keeping the Nation Safe, or Making Citizens Vulnerable? The Dangers of Vagueness in Anti-terrorism Laws
By Harvey Silverglate on December 15, 2009 8:32 am in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Criminal Law, Cyberspace Law, Freedom of Speech, Uncategorized
Second installment of a five-part series on Silverglate’s book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. Sami Omar al-Hussayen was a doctoral candidate at the University of Idaho when he was arrested in February 2003. Federal prosecutors alleged that al-Hussayen, a Saudi citizen studying computer science in the United States, provided “material […]
Honest Services Fraud: Your Third Felony Today?
Last week, the Supreme Court heard two cases challenging the scope of so-called “honest services” fraud, a 28-word provision tacked onto the generic federal mail-and-wire fraud statute that makes it illegal to “deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.” If you’re asking what this statute means, you’re in august company: Justice Antonin Scalia […]