by Richard Resch
When prosecutors offer “enhanced” surveillance footage or body-camera video, defense counsel must understand what enhancement actually means. Traditional forensic methods such as adjusting brightness, applying contrast filters, or using established interpolation algorithms like nearest-neighbor or bi-cubic scaling operate directly on the captured data. Even when …
by Richard Resch
In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a divided Mississippi Supreme Court decision, holding that under the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause, a trial court may not deny a defendant his right to face-to-face confrontation with a child witness simply …
by Richard Resch
Police departments nationwide are racing to adopt artificial intelligence that transcribes body-camera footage, translates witness statements, and drafts investigative narratives. But these tools introduce profound risks to factual accuracy and due process that defense attorneys must challenge at every stage of a case.
A …
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” – Henry Ford
What is money? Everyone needs and wants it, but few can actually define it. At its core, money is a social construct, an abstract concept with tangible forms. Money is an agreement within a society about what constitutes a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value. Essentially, money represents a shared agreement on value and thereby facilitates economic interactions by providing a standardized way to measure worth, store wealth over time, and settle debts.
By engaging with the material in this article, you will be able to meaningfully answer that deceptively simple question about money as well as gain a clear understanding of Bitcoin – its revolutionary nature, its eventful history, its role as the future of global finance, and its ability to thwart mass surveillance and pervasive control by governments.
A Brief History of Money
Money facilitates trade by overcoming the limitations of barter, where goods and services are directly exchanged. Without …
Welcome to this month’s issue of Criminal Legal News (“CLN”). As you can see, it’s devoted to the revolutionary and controversial topic of digital currencies, spotlighting the two most important participants in the enduring clash between individual liberties and state control. In this issue, we take a deep dive into Bitcoin – the groundbreaking decentralized digital monetary network that is appropriately characterized as “freedom money” – and Central Bank Digital Currencies (“CBDCs”) – the government-controlled digital form of fiat money that effortlessly enables mass surveillance, programmable restrictions, and unparalleled control. Whether you’re skeptical of these evidence-based assessments or already convinced, this issue of CLN is your vital resource for understanding these two starkly different digital currencies and the stakes involved. Our meticulously researched articles will challenge your assumptions, provide fresh insights, and entertain you along the way.
“Crypto Week” Showdown in Congress Over CBDCs
The timeliness of this issue is underscored by the dramatic events that unfolded in Washington, D.C., during “Crypto Week” from July 14 to 18 in the United States House of Representatives. What was intended as a bipartisan celebration for passing a trio of digital asset bills nearly imploded entirely due to …
The Supreme Court of the United States held that when an offender convicted under § 924(c) had been sentenced prior to the enactment of the First Step Act but the sentence was subsequently vacated, a sentence “has not been imposed” for purposes of the retroactivity provision of § 403(b), …
The Supreme Court of the United States held that U.S. District Courts may not consider 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A), retribution vis-à-vis defendant’s underlying criminal offense, when determining whether to revoke a term of supervised release because Congress’ decision to enumerate eight of the ten sentencing factors set forth in …
The “100-mile border zone” is not just a geographic area—it is a legal construct that provides federal authorities broader powers to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. If you are within 100 miles of the nation’s land borders or coastlines, you are in the 100-mile border zone, a region …
The Supreme Court of South Carolina held that the defendant was entitled to a self-defense jury instruction where he presented some evidence upon which a jury could reasonably conclude that he acted in self-defense and that it was error for the trial court to refuse to provide the requested …
Resolving a split between the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Seventh Circuit, the Supreme Court of the United States held that 18 U.S.C. § 1014 criminalizes only “false” statements, not ones that are “misleading” but true, i.e., not false.
Background
Patrick Thompson …
