President Barack Obama tapped a former Justice Department official for a spot on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House announced Thursday.
Mary Murguia (gov)
Mary Murguia, who led the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys from 1999 to 2000 and served in other capacities at the DOJ prior to that beginning in 1990, would take the seat vacated by Judge Michael D. Hawkins, who has taken senior status. She has served as a U.S. District Court judge in Arizona since 2000.
“Judge Murguia has displayed an outstanding commitment to public service throughout her career and as a District Judge in Arizona,” Obama said in a statement. “I am honored to nominate her today for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals and confident she will serve the American people with fairness and integrity.”
A dozen banks identified in municipal derivatives case
Big name banks and ex-banks, including JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers and UBS, are mentioned as co-conspirators in a criminal antitrust case in the municipal securities market, Bloomberg reported Friday. The banks are alleged to have conspired to pay below-market rates to municipalities on their investments. Documents filed by an attorney for one of the defendants in federal court in New York list a dozen banks and two dozen bankers as co-conspirators identified by the government. The firms and individuals have not been previously disclosed, but they have not been charged in the case.
‘Open Skies’ to be more open
The United States and the European Union are expanding the framework that regulates how airlines operate across the Atlantic, the New York Times reported Thursday. The preliminary deal builds on the 2007 ‘Open Skies’ agreement, and calls for Europe to ease airport noise laws and for the U.S. to allow for more foreign ownership in its carriers. The deal still faces a steep climb on Capitol Hill, according to the newspaper.
Swiss open probe in camera market
Swiss antitrust regulators are looking at Japanese camera maker Nikon, according to the Associated Press. The probe involves whether a Nikon subsidiary blocked other companies from importing some of its photography products, according to the report.
Section 5
The Financial Times looks at FTC Commissioner Tom Rosch and the agency’s efforts to push the boundaries of its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has expressed concern about being left out of some congressional oversight of Justice Department intelligence matters.
Patrick Leahy (Getty Images)
In a written follow-up question to Attorney General Eric Holder following his Nov. 18, 2009, appearance before the Senate panel, Leahy said that over the last few years certain intelligence matters, particularly activities dealing with the FBI, have seemed to have fallen into the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. The chairman said he wants to make sure the Judiciary Committees are not being left out of the complete Justice Department oversight process.
“While I am happy to share oversight jurisdiction as appropriate, I believe strongly that the Judiciary Committees, with their long tradition of oversight of all aspects of Department work and their considerable expertise in these matters, should not be shut out of important Justice Department activities,” Leahy said. (His question can be found on page 7 of the document, which was released Monday.)
Leahy asked Holder to comment on whether the Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over the entire department.
The Attorney General said in his response that he generally agrees that the Judiciary Committees have oversight jurisdiction over the Justice Department.
“[W]e note that certain activities of the FBI are scored to the National Intelligence Program, which we understand falls under the purview of the Intelligence Committees,” Holder said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a Senate Judiciary Committee member, told Main Justice she’s never had a conflict with Leahy over DOJ oversight jurisdiction and said that intelligence matters can be handled in both committees.
“There’s no question that Judiciary has oversight over Holder. So if I want to ask an intelligence related question I can do it in Judiciary or I can have Holder up before … the Intelligence Committee,” Feinstein said.
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President Barack Obama nominated two lawyers in private practice and an Assistant U.S. Attorney to serve as U.S. Attorneys, the White House announced Thursday.
They are:
Melinda Haag (Orrick)
– Melinda Haag (Northern District of California): The partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe would replace George W. Bush holdover U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello. Read more about her here.
Jerry Martin (Barrett, Johnston & Parsley)
– Jerry Martin (Middle District of Tennessee): The partner at Barrett, Johnston & Parsley would replace Bush holdover U.S. Attorney Ed Yarbrough. Read more about Martin here.
- James A. Lewis (Central District of Illinois): The Central District of Illinois Assistant U.S. Attorney would succeed Rodger A. Heaton, who stepped down as U.S. Attorney last August. The district’s current acting U.S. Attorney is Jeffrey B. Lang. Read more about Lewis here.
Obama has now made 60 U.S. Attorney nominations, 36 of whom have already won Senate confirmation. There are 93 Attorneys, who lead 94 offices across the country.
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An international counterfeiting treaty may take a hard line against consumers who illegally download copyrighted works, according to a leaked draft of the negotiations.
According to a draft of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the U.S. has been pushing for rules that ask service providers to cut off internet access for repeat offenders.
Wired first reported the draft Wednesday afternoon. If the draft treaty is adopted, for the first time internet providers would be held responsible when customers download infringing material unless they adopt policies to actively combat unauthorized sharing of content under copyright.
“This makes it clear that the U.S. has put on the table a mandatory ISP safe-harbor policy,” Michael Geist, an ACTA expert at the University of Ottawa, told Wired.
The United States has been negotiating the anti-counterfeiting trade treaty with the EU, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand and others since 2008. An eighth round of negotiations is scheduled to begin April 12 in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice has also been looking into intellectual property issues at home.
In February, the department announced the creation of a new intellectual property task force. That group was charged with coordinating with state and local officials and their foreign counterparts to work on policy issues and focus on the link between piracy and international organized crime.
The DOJ’s task force is chaired by the Deputy Attorney General and includes representatives from the Criminal Division, the Civil Division, the Antitrust Division, the Office of Legal Policy, the Office of Justice Programs, the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the FBI.
The Justice Department declined to provide a full list of individuals on the task force. But an individual familiar with the composition of a previous IP task force said the main players are likely Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny Breuer, the Attorney General’s Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Garland, and Michael DuBose, who heads the DOJ’s computer crime and intellectual property section.
The Justice Department also ran an IP task force under the Bush administration, which built on the work of the active Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property units in around two dozen U.S. Attorney’s offices around the county. The new group will largely be a continuation of the previous efforts.
In October 2008, the president signed into law the Pro-IP Act, which authorized an additional $30 million in funding for five years to Justice and the FBI for new agents and prosecutors dedicated to intellectual property crimes.
Much of the task force’s efforts, observers say, will involve integrating the new personnel authorized by the law into the field offices and at headquarters.
Fighting piracy and counterfeit goods is an issue not only for the entertainment industry, but also for pharmaceutical companies and software firms. The Chamber of Commerce has pushed authorities to step up customs enforcement to keep infringing goods from entering the country.
Rob Calia, who heads the Chamber’s efforts on piracy and counterfeiting said: “The task force should focus on international aspects, on the link between organized crime, and can be instrumental in developing policy in a technology environment that changes quickly.” The internet, for example, he said, is the fastest growing venue for piracy.
The bulk of upholding copyrights and patents is done by private parties, but the DOJ can go after some infringers under its criminal authority. It tends to go after large-scale counterfeiters, as it did in March, when a father and son duo plead guilty to selling $1 million of counterfeit software.
The Justice Department also prosecutes individuals who make illegal DVDs. A New Jersey man pled guilty in February, for example, to recording movies while they screened in a theater.
Consumer groups including Public Knowledge have criticized the aggressive enforcement stance and argued that sharing some content is protected by fair use and other laws. The question is what are they going after, said Art Brodsky, communications director at the group. He applauded federal law enforcement pursuing charges against individuals for physical duplication of copyrighted content, but worried that individuals and internet users that might also be targeted.
Vice President Joe Biden, who has long been a supporter of aggressive IP enforcement efforts, also chaired a high-profile meeting on the issue in December that included both entertainment industry executives and administration officials.
A British judge cleared the way Thursday for the extradition of U.K. citizen to the United States to face prosecution for charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Bloomberg reported.
District Judge Caroline Tubbs ruled that Jeffrey Tesler, a British lawyer, can be extradited to the United States. Tesler faces prosecution in Houston for his role in allegedly bribing officials of the government of Nigeria to secure contracts in a $6 billion natural gas project.
Tesler allegedly served as the middleman for a consortium bidding for contract to build liquefied natural gas facilities on Nigeria’s Bonny Island. The consortium included included Kellogg, Brown and Root Inc. (KBR), a large engineering and construction company that was formerly part of Halliburton. In his capacity as middleman, Tesler allegedly funneled $132 million in bribes to Nigerian officials through a shell company in Gibraltar.
Tesler was indicted by a federal grand jury in Houston in February 2009. He was charged with one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA and 10 substantive FCPA offenses. In March 2009, Tesler was arrested in London. If convicted of the charges, he faces up to 55 years in prison.
Defense lawyers for Tesler contested his extradition, arguing that his case was not connected to the U.S. because none of the alleged corrupt behavior took place in the country and none of the bribed public officials were American.
Tesler declined to comment to Bloomberg after the hearing. One of Tesler’s lawyers said it “can be taken as a given” that Tesler will appeal the ruling.
The U.S. government’s efforts to extradite Tesler are an example of the Justice Department’s belief that the FCPA has a broad jurisdictional reach. The DOJ is also currently seeking the extradition of Ousama Naaman, a 60-year-old Canadian citizen arrested last year in Germany for paying kickbacks to Iraqi officials in order to obtain contracts for chemical manufacturer Innospec Inc. under the U.N.’s Oil for Food Program.
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Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara promoted several Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the office’s criminal division, the office announced Thursday.
The changes:
- Raymond J. Lohier was appointed special counsel to the U.S. Attorney. He joined the office in 2000 and previously served as chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer also recommended him last month for a seat on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. President Obama has not yet announced who he will nominate.
- Christopher L. Garcia was appointed head of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, replacing Lohier. He joined the office in 2004 and was previously the task force deputy chief.
- Marc P. Berger was appointed deputy chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, replacing Garcia. He joined the office in 2002 and was previously an attorney on the task force.
- Bonnie B. Jones was appointed Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force senior litigation counsel and the office’s financial fraud coordinator for President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. She joined the office in 1997 and previously served as the chief of the general crimes unit.
- Glen G. McGorty was appointed a senior trial counsel in the public corruption unit. He joined the office in 2002 and previously served as deputy chief of the narcotics unit.
- Rebecca M. Ricigliano was appointed deputy chief of the narcotics unit, replacing McGorty. She joined the office in 2005 and previously served as an attorney on the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and on the international narcotics trafficking unit.
- Laurie A. Korenbaum was appointed trial counsel for the violent crimes unit. She joined the office in 1999 and previously served as an attorney in the unit.
The office’s criminal division is led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard B. Zabel.
No more illegible, paper Rx forms: Doctors will soon be able to write electronic prescriptions for controlled substances.
On Wednesday, the Drug Enforcement Administration released a long awaited interim final rule approving the e-prescriptions. The rule, which was posted online Wednesday afternoon, is set to be published in The Federal Register next week.
Federal law defines controlled substances as drugs that have the potential for abuse, which includes many stimulants, depressants and anabolic steroids. Controlled substances account for nearly 20 percent of all prescriptions, according to Health Data Management.
Under the new rule, doctors will be permitted to submit electronic prescriptions for such controlled substances to pharmacies. Before now, physicians were required to submit paper prescription. Supporters of the change maintain that paper prescriptions are more easily forged and prone to errors because of illegible handwriting.
The DEA first issued a proposed rule in 2008, but never moved to finalize the regulations. After nearly a year, in May 2009, a group of senators wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, urging them to prod the drug agency into publishing a final rule.
After the rule is published on March 31, it will undergo a 60-day public comment period before taking effect.
During a visit to New Orleans, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez told the Associated Press Thursday that he was “profoundly troubled” by the corruption unveiled in the course of a probe into the city’s police department.
Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez (File Photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice)
Perez traveled to New Orleans to meet with Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu and Police Superintendent Warren Riley. Perez said he was confident that a new police chief could help change the culture of the department and said he is pleased with Landrieu’s search for Riley’s replacement.
A federal investigation into a post Hurricane Katrina police shooting and a subsequent coverup of the crime by New Orleans police officers is expanding into other allegations of police misconduct. Over the past month, two former police investigators have pleaded guilty to manipulating the investigation into a shooting of unarmed civilians on a bridge after the 2005 storm.
Perez conducted additional business while he was in the area, including tours of several schools and housing developments, according to WDSU television. Background on the bridge shooting here.
UPDATE 6:05 p.m.
Perez spoke about a case he had prosecuted as a line attorney in 1994 against Len Davis, a former New Orleans police officer convicted of the shooting death of Kim Groves. He had hoped the conviction would “usher in changes” at the city’s police department.
“That didn’t happen,” he told the Associated Press during a break from visiting a New Orleans charter school. “One observation that’s inescapable is that the department has a litany of very, very serious challenges.”
“There are not quick fixes to transforming a culture,” he said. “Culture change takes time. Culture change takes perseverance. There’s no quick fix to that, but it can be done. I’ve seen that in other departments.”
Perez planned to return to Washington on Thursday after three days in the city, reported the AP.
In a video interview with a local television station, Perez said that the “Constitution doesn’t get suspended during times when there’s a hurricane.”
Attorney General Eric Holder (photo by Ryan J. Reilly)
Attorney General Eric Holder will speak at the May graduation ceremonies for his alma mater, Columbia Law School, and also at the American University Washington College of Law.
Holder, who received his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia in 1973 and his Juris Doctor from its law school in 1976, will address the Columbia Law School graduates at their May 14 ceremony. He will also speak to American University law graduates at their May 23 ceremony.
Last year, Holder addressed graduating undergraduates at Columbia University. He also spoke at graduation ceremonies for the University of Pennsylvania Criminology Department and the Howard University School of Law.
