The twentieth century marked the era when organized crime, typically equated with the Mafia or La Cosa Nostra, became a widely recognized and widely studied phenomenon. Organized crime in the La Cosa Nostra sense burst into the American awareness in the 1950’s and 1960’s as a result of Senator Estes Kefauver’s inquiries, the McClellan Committee …

When cyber-predators are caught through online sting operations and found guilty of the underlying statutory violation, judges must look to the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“Sentencing Guidelines”) to determine what sentences offenders will serve. One of the sentencing guidelines applicable to such cases is section 2A3.2, “Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age …

The modern inventor is compelled to create innovative products, generate a market for those products, and protect those products with a patent. The choice to file a patent application reflects an inventor’s desire to protect her private interest in controlling a limited monopoly over the invention, subject to the statutes governing patents. Section 102 of …

For an avid sports fan, it is sometimes challenging to watch every important game while simultaneously keeping other commitments. Consider a law student who must choose between being prepared for class the following day and watching his or her favorite team. Listening to Dick Vitale rant and rave about the next “diaper dandy” while trying …

As many as 600 operating power plants in the United States are between thirty and fifty years old and are up to ten times dirtier than new power plants built today. Many of the technologies that remove pollution and increase operating efficiencies have been available for decades, but power plants have been slow to adapt. …

Ah ha, hush that fuss Everybody move to the back of the bus Do you wanna bump slump with us We the type of people make the club get crunk In September 1998, the Atlanta-based musical group OutKast released a song titled Rosa Parks which contained the above lyrics in the chorus. In Parks v. …

Recently several states have launched investigations of certain MCI telephone call routings based on competitors’ claims that the company eliminated or reduced payments it should have made. The MCI investigations may uncover instances of unlawful practices designed to shore up revenues, reduce payments to local exchange carriers for call delivery, avoid tax liability and shift …

Librarians and library associations have been outspoken critics of the expanded surveillance powers granted law enforcement with passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001. Librarians’ organized protests have given impetus to community and legislative efforts to curtail the expanded power, and librarians have also had a small role in lawsuits challenging the Act. The …

We are in the Wild West of privacy and security today. As was the case with consumers of food and drugs one hundred years ago, today’s consumers know little about the actual practices of companies that have their personal information. There is skyrocketing identity theft, stalking made possible through the sale of personal information, and …

On October 26, 2001, only six weeks after the unfathomable horror of September 11, President Bush signed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (“PATRIOT Act”).2 The bill was more than 340 pages long, had significant changes in its final days, and affects more …