Author Archives: Luke Newman
Tallahassee Man Gets 20 Years For Distributing Fentanyl On Probation
Federal authorities announced a 19-year sentence against a man who was previously convicted of drug trafficking in 2005. While out on probation, he was caught once again trafficking fentanyl. He received a 19-year sentence on those charges. The federal government does not like when individuals who are released on probation go straight back to… Read More »
DNA Matching And Genealogy Databases: What You Need To Know
DNA is considered inviolable under the law. However, new techniques used by law enforcement are causing concern for some. While DNA can give you an exact match, some DNA sampling techniques leave incomplete samples. In these cases, the match can only narrow down to a family, not an individual. At this point, investigators will… Read More »
19-Year-Old Arrested For Posting FB Photo Threatening Gays
A 19-year-old has been arrested after making a disturbing online threat against the gay community, according to the FBI. The man has since been taken into custody. The threat was made on the popular social media site, Discord, which is popular with gamers. In December, the FBI received a report of a man issuing… Read More »
Codebreaking: Why Context Matters
If you’ve ever seen the movie about Alan Turing or know about his role in breaking the Nazi Enigma code in World War II, then you know that it took one of the best mathematicians the world has ever known to accomplish that feat. But it wasn’t pure math and there is no perfect… Read More »
Republican Congressman Indicted On COVID Fraud Charges
The Florida Republican who sponsored the “Don’t Say Gay” bill has been indicted on two counts of COVID fraud. During the pandemic, the U.S. government initiated several relief programs including those for businesses. These appear to be the most widely defrauded programs next to Medicaid. The PPP program, which extended payroll loans to businesses,… Read More »
Can A Prosecutor Decide Not To Enforce A Law?
A political battle is brewing between state Republicans and Florida prosecutors concerning rules targeting abortion and transgender. Governor Ron DeSantis recently suspended a Florida prosecutor who vowed not to enforce the new rules. The prosecutor has since sued DeSantis over the removal claiming that it was illegal and subverted the will of voters. More… Read More »
San Diego State Rape Case Ends Without Charges
Brenda Tracy is a sexual assault survivor who goes to schools across the country to discuss her experience. When she was asked to give a speech to San Diego State University, she was unaware that the football players who were the target of her speech were under investigation for a gang rape committed at… Read More »
Scientists Have No Reliable Test For Marijuana But Prosecutions Continue
Depending on what state you live in, you can legally possess and use marijuana but still face prosecutions for DUI. While this is not surprising, there is no accurate scientific test to determine if someone is inebriated and unlike heroin or alcohol, marijuana will stay in your system for days or months if you… Read More »
Ruan V. The United States: Opioid Lawsuits Against Doctors
One of the groundbreaking decisions that was dwarfed by the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a Supreme Court decision that made it more difficult to convict doctors in opioid-prescribing lawsuits. Today, there are several doctors all over the United States that are either facing charges related to the unlawful prescribing of opioids or… Read More »
The Petty Offense Doctrine: Why You Aren’t Entitled To A Jury
The Constitution guarantees that anyone who is accused of a crime has a right to a trial by jury. However, that right is routinely denied to individuals who are accused of “petty” offenses. Of course, in the interests of judicial economy, we could not prosecute every crime that occurred. In most cases, defendants plead… Read More »
