Podcast - “I Lied Like a Dog!”
Sittenfeld v. United States – Campaign Contributions as Crimes?
Podcast - Persistence and Determination
Episode 377 -- Refocusing Due Diligence on Cartels and TCOs
10 For 10: Top Compliance Stories For the Week Ending, July 12, 2025
RICO Section 1962(b): Acquisition or Maintenance of Control Over Legitimate Enterprises — RICO Report Podcast
Podcast - The Seeds of Corruption
False Claims Act Insights - Bitter Pills: DOJ Targets Pharmacies for FCA Enforcement
Episode 374 -- Justice Department Resumes FCPA Enforcement with New, Focused Guidance
Daily Compliance News: June 16, 2025, The Golden Share Edition
The JustPod: Defending the "Evil Genius:" A Conversation with Leonard Ambrose
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 62 - The Tragic Toll of Conspiracy Theories: The Seth Rich Story
SBR-Author’s Podcast: The Unseen Life of an Undercover Agent: A Conversation with Charlie Spillers
Podcast - "Ready for Trial?"
Podcast - The Law as a Force for Change
The JustPod: A Discussion with Defense Counsel Rocco Cipparone and Angie Levy on January 6 Prosecutions
False Claims Act Insights - Trump DOJ Sharpens Its Focus on Healthcare Fraud
The JustPod: A murder-for-hire allegation, public corruption trial, and notable acquittal
Podcast - Every Case Is a New World
As you might have guessed from the title of this post, we are returning to cover new developments in the United States v. Sirois case. A few months ago, the First Circuit released an opinion that we discussed in an earlier...more
Attorney General Merrick Garland has reiterated that the Department of Justice will not prioritize prosecuting marijuana use, a position that Garland expressed during his confirmation hearings. In remarks in front of a Senate...more
On June 25, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Jack Abramoff intends to plead guilty to criminal violations of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), in what is the first known criminal prosecution under...more
LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - House Passes Cannabis Banking Bill - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the SAFE Banking Act, which allows financial-service firms to work with “cannabis-related...more
Recreational cannabis became legal across Canada in 2018, and 33 U.S. states have legalized it at least for medical purposes (10 for recreational). Yet, there are numerous reports of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)...more
By a vote of 267 to 165, the United States House of Representatives (the “House”) passed a bipartisan amendment protecting state cannabis programs and its users from federal prosecution. Named after its co-founder,...more
Canada legalized the recreational use of marijuana effective October 17, 2018. Although many American states have loosened their marijuana restrictions, including those on the U.S.-Canada border like Washington, Michigan, and...more
On January 4th, Attorney General Jeff Sessions took a big step backward. He announced that the Department of Justice rescinded the " Cole Memo " and other internal enforcement guidelines, issued under the Obama Administration...more
ON OCTOBER 2, 2012, kidnappers robbed and abducted a marijuana dispensary owner from his Newport Beach home. They then drove him to the Mojave Desert where they tortured him and demanded that he reveal where he had buried his...more
Since 1996, when California became the first state to legalize marijuana (at the time, for medicinal purposes only), 28 additional states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana to some extent. Public support...more
As discussed in our January 5th blog post, the Cole Memorandum was rescinded by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on January 4th of this year. The Cole Memorandum had served to formally announce the DOJ’s policy that it would...more
On January 4, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) position on enforcement of federal marijuana laws. Under the Obama administration, the DOJ adopted a hands-off approach to...more
Just days after the sale of recreational cannabis became legal in California, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a new policy regarding cannabis-related activities that is causing confusion for local governments — and...more
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a one-page memorandum on January 4, 2018 (the “Sessions Memo”) rescinding both the Cole and Ogden Memoranda which essentially established a Department of Justice (“DOJ”) prosecutorial...more
• The marijuana industry that was expected to generate roughly $40 billion in economic impact nationwide by 2021 is at a crossroads given a recent move by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to eliminate certain protections...more
On January 4, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum (the “Sessions Memo”) on marijuana enforcement which rescinded the existing Obama-era Cole Memorandum....more
On January 4, 2018—just days after California began selling recreational marijuana and became poised to become the largest legal market for the drug in the U.S.—the Department of Justice changed tactics on marijuana...more
On January 4, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially rescinded all of the prior Obama-era Department of Justice (DOJ) marijuana-related guidance, including the so-called “Cole Memo.” That guidance had provided...more
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a one-page memorandum on December 4th, rescinding Obama-era guidance that had allowed states to legalize medical and recreational marijuana with marginal federal interference, eliminating...more
On January 4, 2018, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded, effective immediately, previous enforcement priorities of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on marijuana, including the Cole Memo. The move creates uncertainty...more
The U.S. Department of Justice released a memorandum on December 4th, directing all U.S. Attorneys to use their prosecutorial discretion to enforce the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970 with respect to the cultivation,...more
While marijuana is legal for medical and, in some instances recreational, use under the laws of 29 states plus the District of Columbia, under federal law it remains illegal....more
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions yesterday rescinded the Cole Memorandum, which had directed the federal justice department to de-prioritize the prosecution of federal marijuana laws in states where the use of marijuana...more
The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo dated January 4, 2018 regarding federal marijuana enforcement policy, directing all U.S. Attorneys to enforce the laws enacted by Congress and to follow well-established...more
Attorney General Sessions Announces Rescission of Obama Administration Policies on Marijuana Enforcement; Financial Institutions Lose Grounds to Permit Financial Transactions with Marijuana Businesses....more