Regular readers know that I am interested in the criminal prosecution of Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving 25 years in federal prison for fraudulent activity related to his operation of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX. I reviewed Michael Lewis’s book about Bankman-Fried and have posted several times about the case. There are now several new developments to report. First, Bankman-Fried has appealed. Reuters reports here that his principal claim is that the trial judge erred by excluding evidence that FTX actually had – at all relevant times – sufficient assets to cover all customer deposits. (The bankruptcy trustee has, in fact, recovered more assets than necessary to pay all creditors, including customers, in full.) Second, Lewis has posted this “personal verdict” about the case, which assuredly will not change the opinions of those who see Lewis as an apologist for Bankman-Fried. Third, Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s business partner and sometime girlfriend turned prosecution witness, is soon to be sentenced herself. Her presentence report says that under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, her guideline sentence is life without parole. Remarkably, the report recommends probation based on her cooperation. Sentencing Law and Policy has more here, including some interesting details about what Ellison is doing to stay busy while awaiting her (next) day in court. Keep reading for more news.
Jeff Welty
Police Liability for Damage to Property
Law enforcement officers sometimes damage property in the course of their work. For instance, they may break down a door while executing an arrest warrant, or may pull up floorboards in the course of conducting a search. This post addresses whether police are liable for the damage they cause.
Grants Pass: Local Government Authority and the Constitutionality of Laws Against Camping or Sleeping in Public
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, well over half a million people are unhoused on any given night in America. Given the magnitude of the crisis, local governments face immense challenges in addressing the underlying causes of homelessness while managing public health and safety concerns. Some local governments, including many in North Carolina, have adopted anti-camping and/or anti-sleeping ordinances as part of their response.
The Supreme Court of the United States recently considered whether the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause barred an Oregon city’s adoption of ordinances restricting camping on public property in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 603 U. S. ____ (2024). One of us previewed the case and commented on the oral arguments a few months ago. On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the city’s public camping laws, concluding that their enforcement does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment. This blog post analyzes the Court’s decision and offers guidance to local governments regarding anti-sleeping and anti-camping ordinances.
[Editor’s note: This post is cross posted on Coates’ Canons, the School of Government’s local government law blog.]
News Roundup
Last week, the Department of Defense announced that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and two co-defendants had reached plea deals. Generally, the defendants would plead guilty to various charges before the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay and accept life in prison, and in exchange would be spared the death penalty. Then the Department of Defense announced that the deals are off. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memo revoking the deals and reserving to himself the authority to enter into plea agreements. Some families of 9/11 victims have cheered Austin’s decision while others support the deals. The defendants assert that a deal’s a deal and that Austin can’t nix them. Litigation is sure to ensue, further extending cases that have lasted more than two decades already. Keep reading for more news.
Book Review: An Inconvenient Cop
An Inconvenient Cop is a book authored by long-time NYPD officer and whistleblower Edwin Raymond along with professional writer Jon Sternfeld. Raymond served fifteen years in the New York Police Department. He rose to the rank of lieutenant, but his time with the NYPD was contentious. The book is a memoir that tells the story of Raymond’s career and offers his perspective on policing and police reform.
Supreme Court: Bump Stocks Are Legal
The Supreme Court’s big Second Amendment case this term was United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. __ (2024), which I wrote about here. But readers interested in firearms law should know that the Court also decided Garland v. Cargill, 602 U.S. 406 (2024), a case addressing the legal status of bump stocks. The case isn’t a criminal case, and it mostly isn’t a Second Amendment case, but it is an interesting case with important implications for administrative law and perhaps for the future of gun regulations.
Backing Away from Bruen? Supreme Court Upholds Law Barring Restraining Order Subjects from Possessing Guns
On June 21, the Supreme Court decided a highly-anticipated Second Amendment case. In United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. __ (2024), the Court considered a facial challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which makes it a felony for people subject to certain domestic violence protective orders to possess firearms. Rahimi was the Court’s first opportunity to apply the revolutionary history-focused approach to Second Amendment analysis it announced in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). In an 8-1 decision, with Chief Justice Roberts writing for the majority, the Court upheld the challenged statute. Several Justices wrote significant concurrences while Justice Thomas, the author of Bruen, dissented. This post summarizes Rahimi, considers whether the case amounts to a retreat from Bruen, and addresses Rahimi’s applicability to North Carolina DVPOs. The post also considers the implications of Rahimi on pending Second Amendment cases, including those challenging felon disqualification.
Case Summaries: Smith v. Arizona; United States v. Rahimi (SCOTUS)
This post summarizes Smith v. Arizona and United States v. Rahimi from the Supreme Court of the United States, decided on June 21, 2024. These summaries, prepared by Phil Dixon (Smith) and Jeff Welty (Rahimi) will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present.
Changes to Basic Law Enforcement Training
With few exceptions, new law enforcement officers in North Carolina are required to complete a course called Basic Law Enforcement Training, or BLET. The curriculum for the course is established by the North Carolina Justice Academy, but the training is typically delivered at dozens of community colleges and through recruit academies run by some of the larger law enforcement agencies in the state. The curriculum has been significantly revised over the past few years, and I thought readers might be interested in a summary of the major changes.
News Roundup
It sounds like there’s a criminal trial of some kind going on in New York, but the big trial this week here in North Carolina was the retrial of self-proclaimed billionaire insurance magnate Greg Lindberg. Lindberg was once the state’s leading campaign donor. According to this AP story, a federal jury in the Western District of North Carolina has convicted him of “attempting to bribe the state’s insurance commissioner to secure preferential regulatory treatment for his insurance business.” Lindberg was previously convicted of essentially the same crime in 2020, successfully appealed, and was released from prison in 2022. He now appears likely to be headed back into custody. He is also awaiting trial on another set of federal charges. Keep reading for more news.