The WSJ reports that law blogger Peter Lattman is moving on within the Jrl.  We wish him the very best in his new beat and welcome Dan Slater, the new WSJ law blogger.

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See the NYTimes here.

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A front page political candidate can be just one of the many feeling the collateral consequences of a criminal indictment, or in this case a bond revocation. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is feeling the sting of being associated with someone accused of criminal conduct. The NYTimes headline is One Time Obama Donor is Ordered Jailed; the Wall Street Jrl calls it Obama Supporter is Jailed, and the Chicago Tribune offers a less offensive title for the candidate in Bond For Tony Rezko Revoked, but then goes on to say how the more than $80,000 donated to the Obama campaign by the charged individual had been given to charity. Apparently prosecutors were concerned when a wire transfer from "Lebanon and Luxembourg"was used to pay off individuals who had assisted with the bond money  for the accused individual. A key issue on whether to allow bond pending trial is whether the accused would flee. This alleged wire payment raised questions concerning flight, and the judge therefore acted to minimize the risk. Unfortunately for Senator Obama, it happened to be someone who had contributed to his campaign. Now the question will be – why did this individual give so much money in political campaign contributions.

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Baltimore Judge Faces Charges of Pollution – Baltimore Sun  (see also Md. Judge Criminally Charged in Environmental Case – ABA Law Jrl News Now)

Feds Raid 4 Calif. Museums in Claimed Art Smuggling Scheme – ABA Law Jrl News Now

Snipes Warned IRS Agents: Back Off Or Face "Increased Collateral Risk" – Ocala.com

Former Prison Guard Pleads Guilty to Perjury – DOJ Press Release-

Download nlr_sherrow_perjury_plea.004.pdf

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Does it seem like CEOs keep stepping down?

Starbucks here

Krispy Kreme here

Bear Stearns Co. here

Whether it’s the government (here) or McDonalds (here) being the threat, the business world presents some tough challenges these days.

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Karen Richardson’s Heard on the Street Column in the Wall Street Journal, "Reinsurance Trial May Ask: What Did Buffett Know" – see here.

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It is not surprising to hear from TalkLeft that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals scrutinized the materiality issue in the Nacchio case. (see here)  As co-blogger Peter Henning said to the Denver Post  (here) "the most compelling argument relates to jury instructions on the materiality or significance of information Nacchio had and publicly disclosed." "’If he’s going to win, I believe it will be on the materiality argument,’ Henning said." The defense raised a multi-faceted approach on the materiality issue.  The crux of the argument is that: "the jury was improperly instructed on the elements of materiality and scienter" and "that expert opinion testimony was erroneously excluded." (see here).  The Rocky Mountain News (here) provides a lay-person’s guide to understanding this issue and other issues raised by the defense.

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For live blogging on the 10th Circuit appellate argument in the former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio case check out Jerri Merritt  of TalkLeft at 5280.

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Professor Doug Berman on his Sentencing Law & Policy Blog here writes about David Voreacos and Bob Van Voris’ Bloomberg News article titled, "Bush Fraud Probes Jail Corporate Criminals Less Than Two Years."  But I guess I want to see more. I am not as convinced that the white collar offenders are getting off so easy. For example, do the statistics include all the money laundering cases that started as typical white collar cases of fraud, but had money laundering tacked onto them?  Does it include cases with a RICO charge, since after all RICO has wire fraud, bank fraud, and mail fraud as its predicates? And admittedly there is no way of actually knowing what percentage of these cases were reduced because of pleas, tokens for acceptance of responsibility, and cooperation agreements with the government. 

The latter portion of this article points out the "trial penalties" (see Houston ClearThinkers here) and the lack of available information on some matters.  And clearly there is a disparity between the sentences given to those who go to trial and those who plea.  But is it to the extent of the Andy Fastow/Jeff Skilling disparity?  And most important I want to know if they included the Chalana McFarland’s of the world, who were given 30 years for mortgage fraud. Or is this not within the confines of corporate fraud? 

And if the numbers show this "less than two years" why did Conrad Black get such a greater sentence?

So, I liked the article, but I think we all need to know exactly what is included in white collar or corporate criminality. (see here)

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12/13/07 – ABA – Thompson/McNulty Memorandum and Beyond – details here.

12/6-7/07 – ABA – Criminal Tax Fraud – details here

1/9/08 – Strafford – Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – Voluntary Disclosures – details here

3/5-7/08 – ABA 22nd National White Collar Crime Institute – details here.

5/1-4/08 – NACDL – White Collar Crime Track – details here.

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