Articles Posted in Criminal Justice Issues

Readers know that I am a lawyer who specializes in defending federal criminal investigations and prosecutions, here in my long-time home of Atlanta.  This is also the birthplace and spiritual home of Dr. Martin Luther King III.  This morning I did some volunteer work (as many do) here in beloved “ATL” as a way to…

Many people have heard about “Varsity Blues”,  which is a federal criminal case handled in Boston that alleges lots of wealthy parents basically paid for advantages to get their children into college. When the case broke and virtually all commentators were assuming that the Defendants were guilty, I posted about how everybody needs to take…

Attorneys who, like me, spend most of their time representing people accused of federal crimes know far too well what the academic researchers and writers call the “Trial Penalty.”  This is the well-documented aspect of the federal criminal justice system in which any person with the nerve to stand up to the federal government in…

I am reviewing the Discovery (meaning the evidence) in a somewhat old federal criminal case that has ties to both Atlanta and North Carolina.  My client is accused of a drug crime, and from the indictment and other materials it appears that the prosecutors contend that there is a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years…

I happen to like people like Rodney “Rod” Class, even if I often  disagree with them.  Some people call him a “gun nut.”  He refers to himself as a “constitutional bounty hunter.”  He likes his guns, and has a very healthy distrust of government.  Rod’s case will be argued late next week in the Supreme…

A recent state court criminal case here in Atlanta is very similar to a federal criminal case we handled in Savannah last year.  In each case, one person made a demand against another person, and the demand arose out of civil litigation.  Prosecutors in each case alleged that the “demand” was actually the crime of…

We represent many people who are under investigation for (or who later face) federal criminal charges.  In the past week the national news media are having spasms over the fact that the head of the FBI decided to publicly acknowledge that his agents are looking at emails scoured from a laptop sometimes used by the…

Over the past 20 years or so, there has been a real push to protect the rights of victims in the criminal justice system. People who are victims of crime now have the right to speak in court, to receive restitution, and to be informed about all phases of a criminal case against the person…

Here at Kish & Lietzamp; Lietz, we proudly represent individuals who are being investigated for or prosecuted with criminal offenses. A set of recent stories about how drug companies in Europe are refusing to provide the drugs used for executions reminded me about the difference between attorneys who represent individual people, versus those lawyers who…

Politics impacts many of our criminal cases here in Atlanta, throughout Georgia, Florida and Alabama, and in federal cases we do throughout the country. The intersection of politics and criminal prosecutions is especially prevalent in public corruption investigations. Prosecutors often have a political motive in “going after” a particular defendant, and many a prosecutor has…