The Law Office of Blair R. Zwillman

03/30/2022

The U.S. Justice Department's top priority in rooting out corporate malfeasance is to hold individuals accountable, Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday, as he detailed a shift in focus and resources at the agency.

The U.S. Justice Department's top priority in rooting out corporate malfeasance is to hold individuals accountable, Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday, as he detailed a shift in focus and resources at the agency.

03/25/2022

Let's hope that Judge Jackson is confirmed by the United States Senate as a Supreme Court Justice! Well deserved promotion.

03/24/2022

The number of offenders granted compassionate release in 2020 substantially increased compared to previous years, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and aided by the First Step Act which gave prisoners more access to federal courts to ask for release.

Compassionate Release cases from federal prison went from almost non-existent to hundreds of people being released. The reason was not just COVID-19 but also the ability for prisoners to get into court through their own efforts.

03/22/2022

The Supreme Court ruled that a series of burglaries took place on a single occasion. The case concerned a federal law that calls for stiff sentences for gun crimes when the defendant had committed three felonies “on occasions different from one another.”

The case concerned a federal law that calls for stiff sentences for gun crimes when the defendant had committed three felonies “on occasions different from one another.”

03/17/2022

A federal judge found that a geofence warrant breached the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches by scooping up information on innocent people without evidence that they might be suspects.

A federal judge's ruling that geofence warrants violate the Fourth Amendment could slow the use of surveillance tools based on Google location data.

03/15/2022

Law enforcement in nearly every US state now has access to facial recognition software. In most of the US, neither police nor prosecutors are required to tell people accused of crimes if facial recognition has played a role in an investigation.

Robert Williams, Michael Oliver, and Nijeer Parks were misidentified by facial recognition software. The impact cast a long shadow.

03/10/2022

Out of all 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia and the federal system, only one state overlooks court debt in deciding whether a person is eligible to have their record cleared, or expunged, according to a recent report.

Only one U.S. state does not consider court debt in deciding if someone is eligible for record-clearing.

03/09/2022

Over 200 people have claimed they were falsely arrested or even jailed after Hertz reported cars they had legitimately rented as stolen.

More than 200 plaintiffs are suing Hertz in bankruptcy court for false arrests. A judge is ruling on how some cases will move forward Wednesday.

03/03/2022

Lawyers for an inmate have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether his 27 years in solitary confinement violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Lawyers for Texas inmate Dennis Wayne Hope have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether his 27 years in solitary confinement violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

03/01/2022

Law enforcement’s use of facial recognition technology during investigations has blossomed in recent years. Now, it appears at least some law enforcement agents are flirting with the idea of using facial recognition at otherwise seemingly benign traffic stops, a potential loosening of the tech’s use that has legal and privacy experts on edge.

At least some law enforcement agents are reportedly considering the practice which legal experts say may violate U.S. law.

02/19/2022

If your car is pulled over by police, you have certain rights and responsibilities. You must produce your driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance and take a sobriety test if requested. However, you are not required to consent to a search of your vehicle. Police may do a search only in limited situations. If a search exceeds legal bounds, your criminal defense attorney can later move to suppress any evidence obtained.

02/18/2022

Federal prosecutors have been seeking to limit defendants' rights to win compassionate release from prison in plea negotiations across the country, a practice that advocates say undermines the intent of Congress and produces cruel outcomes.

The Justice Department has been limiting the ability of people in prison to apply for compassionate release. Advocates say that flouts Congress and is cruel.