Overcriminalization News

Federal prosecutors are considering charging hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors LP as a criminal enterprise through a powerful legal tool used against the Mafia and drug gangs, people familiar with the probe said.

The House Judiciary Committee, which has poured cold water on Democratic priorities since Republicans regained control of the chamber in 2010, last week created a bipartisan, 10-member task force that will conduct a six-month analysis of the estimated 4,500 crimes on the federal books. 

The U.S. Justice Department violated internal procedure in disciplining two federal prosecutors accused of ethical misconduct in the corruption case against Ted Stevens, a judge concluded in a ruling that voids the suspensions imposed on the two attorneys.

After more than six years behind bars, former Enron Corp. chief executive Jeffrey Skilling may be closer than ever to exiting a Colorado federal prison earlier than expected.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a pharmaceutical executive's groundbreaking conviction Monday for misstating clinical study results in a company press release.

A Brazilian judge Wednesday dropped criminal charges against Chevron Corp., Transocean Ltd. and 17 individuals related to a 2011 oil spill that had cast a pall over plans to develop huge oil fields.

A French court brought manslaughter and injury charges on Tuesday against a drug executive and six companies in a case involving a diabetes and weight-loss drug that caused cardiovascular damage, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said.

Free speech in prescription drug marketing will get a fresh look on Thursday when a federal appeals court in San Francisco considers whether a biotech executive committed fraud in touting a lung-disease drug.

An en banc federal appeals court gave a terse answer to pleas by executives of one of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest corporations to rescue their careers: No.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday laid out its corporate prosecution reform priorities for 2013 at a star-studded conference convened by its Institute for Legal Reform. While two years ago the institute made Foreign Corrupt Practices Act reform a centerpiece of its event, in 2011 and this year the conference has focused more broadly on prosecutor tactics, including in the health care industry. Still, the FCPA shadowed discussion of whether the government prosecutors’ tactics against corporations are fair.