Federal Law & Legal System – Page 124 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Seventh Circuit Weighs in on Bankruptcy Fraud

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:February 12, 2010
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Federal Sentencing Seventh Circuit

In the wake of a surge in bankruptcies, can a boom in bankruptcy fraud prosecutions be far behind? If so, district court judges will benefit from the Seventh Circuit’s opinion today in United States v. Peel (No. 07-3933), which addressed a number of unsettled legal questions.

The facts in Peel were unusually lurid for a bankruptcy case. Back in the 1970’s, Peel had an affair with his wife’s sixteen-year-old sister. Although the affair ended after a few months, Peel kept several nude pictures of the sister. Some time later, Peel was divorced from his wife, and bankruptcy followed. Peel’s largest financial obligation was to his ex-wife: $230,000 plus an additional $2500 per month for the rest of his life, pursuant to the terms of the divorce settlement. The ex-wife filed a claim in the bankruptcy proceedings in order to ensure that these obligations were not discharged. Peel then attempted to pressure her into dropping the claim by threatening to release the nude pictures of her sister. The ex-wife complained to police, and Peel was eventually convicted of bankruptcy fraud, obstruction of justice, and possession of child pornography.

Judge Posner, writing for the court, addressed several issues relating to Peel’s convictions and sentence.

Justice Kennedy Goes to the Movies

Post author:David R. Papke
Post published:January 28, 2010
Post category:Constitutional Interpretation First Amendment Popular Culture & Law U.S. Supreme Court

Those industrious enough to reach the final paragraphs of the recent opinion of the Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) might have been surprised to find Justice Kennedy discussing Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). A Hollywood classic directed by Frank Capra, the film is the fictional story of a handpicked bumpkin Senator played by Jimmy Stewart, who sees the light, dramatically filibusters, and in the end teaches the Congress how to behave. Justice Kennedy’s argument seems to be that if the campaign-related indictment of Hillary Clinton in the film titled Hillary: The Movie could be suppressed, the same fate could befall a beloved work such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

The two films’ only similarity seems to be that they are indeed films. One film is fictional, but the other attacks an actual Senator and Presidential candidate. One is designed to entertain, but the other is designed to influence an election. And most importantly, one is a work produced by the culture industry designed to make a profit, but the other is a work funded from corporate profits designed to change opinions.

Are Justice Kennedy and the other members of the Supreme Court majority incredibly unsophisticated in their understanding of popular culture and politics, or is their analogy disingenuous? Extending the inquiry, might a comparable question be posed regarding the Citizens United opinion as a whole? The Supreme Court’s majority might be so oblivious as to think that corporations have the full panoply of First Amendment rights and that their financially self-serving broadsides are matters of free speech that enrich democracy. Then, again, the majority might simply hope it can trick us into believing that.

Seventh Circuit Decides That Reckless Injury and Statutory Rape Are Not “Crimes of Violence”

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:January 27, 2010
Post category:Circuit Splits Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Federal Sentencing Seventh Circuit

In a series of posts (e.g., here and here), I have been tracking the fallout in the Seventh Circuit of the Supreme Court’s decision in Begay v. United States, 128 S. Ct. 1581 (2008). Begay adopted a new approach for deciding when former convictions count as “crimes of violence” that trigger the fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence of the Armed Career Criminal Act.

Earlier this week, the Seventh Circuit had another in its increasingly long line of post-Begay decisions holding that this or that specific offense does not fit the new definition of “crime of violence.” More specifically, in United States v. McDonald (No. 08-2703) (Sykes, J.), the court held that first-degree reckless injury (in violation of Wis. Stat. § 940.23) and second-degree sexual assault of a child (what would be colloquially called “statutory rape,” in violation of Wis. Stat. § 948.02(2)) do not count as crimes of violence.