Though the romance rumor mill is still claiming that Sprint and T-Mobile are hoping to announce their engagement in the weeks to come, and it’s highly unlikely that the pro-industry FCC will do anything to slow these crazy kids from merging, the wireless wedding could be spoiled by the anti-trust wet blankets at the Justice Department. [More]
doj
Judge Reins In DOJ’s Attempt To Get Info On Users Of Anti-Trump Site
By 10.10.17
A judge in Washington, D.C., has thrown a wrench into the Justice Department’s effort to collect information on people who communicated through a website site critical of President Trump, ruling that the DOJ “does not have the right to rummage through the information” on the site to “discover the identity of, or access communications by, individuals not participating in alleged criminal activity.” [More]
Justice Dept. Decides It No Longer Wants Info On 1.3 Million Visitors To Anti-Trump Site
By 8.23.17
The U.S. Department of Justice recently tried to compel a website hosting company to turn over all the information the company has on the approximately 1.3 million internet users who visited a site created to organize a protest during President Trump’s inauguration. Now the DOJ is rethinking that plan, withdrawing its demand for this mountain of data. [More]
Trump Administration Tells Court: Civil Rights Law Doesn’t Ban Discrimination Against LGBT Workers
By 7.27.17
The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,” but does the ban on sex-related discrimination extend to sexual orientation? Not according to the Trump administration, which recently told a federal appeals court that this protection only applies to equal treatment of male and female workers. [More]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions Asked Congress To Let Him Prosecute Medical Marijuana
By 6.13.17
Recently, Congress once again extended a ban on the Department of Justice using its funds to prosecute legitimate medical marijuana operations in states that have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked lawmakers to end this prohibition and allow his prosecutors to go after medical cannabis. [More]
Motorcycle Gang Members Used Key Codes To Boost $4.5M Worth Of Jeep Wranglers
By 6.2.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
All it took was a few stolen key designs and computer codes for a biker gang to successfully steal more than 150 Jeep Wranglers — valued at $4.5 million — from the U.S. and relocate them to Mexico in a years-long heist. [More]
Psychiatric Hospital Chain Reportedly Under Investigation For Allegedly Holding Patients Longer Than Needed
By 5.24.17
Investigators from the FBI and the Department of Defense are reportedly looking into allegations that Universal Health Services — the nation’s largest provider of inpatient psychiatric care, with nearly 200 facilities in 38 states and Puerto Rico — is padding its bottom line by deliberately holding patients longer than is medically necessary. [More]
Justice Dept., EPA Sue Fiat Chrysler Over ‘Dirty Diesel’ Ram Trucks, Jeep Cherokees
By 5.23.17
Just as Volkswagen cleans up the remnants of its dirty diesel scandal, the folks at Fiat Chrysler find themselves on the receiving of a lawsuit brought by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department accusing the carmaker of rigging its own diesel engines to fool emissions tests. [More]
Justice Dept. May Go After Fiat Chrysler For Skirting Emissions Standards
By 5.18.17
Now that both the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have accused Fiat Chrysler of using “defeat device” software to skirt emission standards in more than 100,000 vehicles, the Department of Justice is expected to file a lawsuit against carmaker. [More]
Medical Marijuana Industry Uneasy About Its Future Under Trump Administration
By 5.15.17
Despite the fact that Congress recently passed a new spending bill that included a provision prohibiting the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency from interfering in states’ medical marijuana programs, the industry remains wary of President Trump’s administration and its stance on the drug. [More]
Bumble Bee Agrees To Plead Guilty To Tuna Fish Price-Fixing, Pay $25 Million Fine
By 5.8.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Bumble Bee Foods, one of the nation’s largest producers of canned tuna, has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges that it conspired with competing companies to fix the price of this common pantry seafood item. [More]
Medical Marijuana Safe From DOJ Prosecution — For Now
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Although Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not a fan of marijuana, federal law has prohibited the Justice Department from using any of the funding it receives from Congress to prosecute medical marijuana in any state where it’s legal. Thanks to a new omnibus spending bill that just passed the House and Senate, it’ll stay that way — at least for the moment. [More]
Slew Of New Bills Aim To Reform Marijuana Laws At Federal Level
By 3.30.17
While the Trump Administration has hinted at a coming crackdown on non-medical use of marijuana, federal legislators continue to introduce new bills — some with bipartisan support — intended to further legitimize the cannabis industry. [More]
DirecTV Asks Court To Throw Out Justice Dept. Lawsuit Over SportsNet LA
By 2.13.17
It’s hard to be a baseball fan in Los Angeles. For what feels like ages, the LA Dodgers have had an exclusive deal with Time Warner Cable — now Charter — to air their games in the area. Other carriers reportedly have tried to get access to the games but were stymied, eventually leading to a complicated court case where the Justice Department sued DirecTV over allegations of colluding unlawfully with other carriers in negotiations with SportsNet LA. Now, DirecTV is fighting back. [More]
For-Profit Prisons Could See Boost With Trump’s Executive Order To Open New Detention Centers
By 1.25.17
While much of today’s news about President Trump’s latest executive order is the directive to build his often-promised wall along the border between Mexico and the U.S., the order also directs the federal government to get to work immediately on building — or contracting out — detention centers along that border, providing a potential boon to the for-profit prison industry. [More]
Should Microsoft Be Allowed To Tells Its Users When Government Searches Their Data?
By 1.23.17
If the police serve a search warrant on your home, you know, but if law enforcement searches your cloud-stored files, you’ll probably have no idea — and companies like Microsoft are currently forbidden from telling you. That’s why the tech giant is suing the Justice Department, but can Microsoft even bring this lawsuit? [More]
Western Union Will Pay $585 Million For Not Doing Enough To Stop Wire Fraud
By 1.19.17
Whether it’s the “distant relative stranded in a foreign country” scam or the “you’ve won the lottery but you have to pay us scam” or any other variation on this remotely operated ruse, wire transfer services like Western Union are often the conduit for getting that money from the victim to the scammer. After years of being accused of not doing enough to clamp down on fraud by its customers, Western Union has agreed to pay $585 million to federal authorities and admit that its policies — and some of its agents — aided and abetted wire fraud. [More]
Moody’s Hit With $864M Penalty For Role In Mortgage Meltdown
By 1.13.17
While much of the anger surrounding the mortgage meltdown was focused on shady mortgage lenders and investment banks, a less-discussed but nonetheless culpable party were the credit-rating agencies that rubber-stamped mortgage-backed securities that were sometimes worth about as much as a used lottery ticket. [More]
