Department of Justice - The Indiana Lawyer

Bont: White collar update — Walmart pharmacy defense plays offense

April 14, 2021 | Jonathan Bont

Walmart took issue with the government’s assertion that national pharmacy chains are required to analyze and share prescribing data across its stores and with line pharmacists. After waiting four years for the government to initiate legal proceedings, Walmart took the offensive and filed a declaratory judgment action in the Eastern District of Texas. In essence, Walmart alleged to the court that the government was creating and enforcing laws that did not exist.

NCAA’s Emmert agrees to meet protesting players after March Madness

March 24, 2021 | Associated Press and IL Staff

With the United States Supreme Court set to hear a college sports antitrust case next week, Indianapolis-based NCAA President Mark Emmert has informed a group of basketball players who started a social media campaign to protest inequities that he will meet with them after March Madness.

Court could reimpose Boston marathon bomber’s death sentence

March 22, 2021 | Associated Press

The United States Supreme Court said Monday it will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, presenting President Joe Biden with an early test of his opposition to capital punishment.

On federal death row, inmates talk about Biden, executions

March 22, 2021 | Associated Press

On federal death row in Terre Haute, prisoners fling notes on a string under each other’s cell doors and converse through interconnected air ducts. A top issue these days: whether President Joe Biden will halt executions, several told The Associated Press.

With athlete name, image, likeness reform in limbo, NCAA heads toward busy June

March 16, 2021 | Associated Press and IL Staff

The Indianapolis-based NCAA’s efforts to allow athletes to earn money from personal endorsement and sponsorship deals are stuck in limbo, and June is shaping up to be a potentially busy and important month for college sports.

Senate confirms Merrick Garland to be U.S. attorney general

March 10, 2021 | Associated Press and IL Staff

The Senate confirmed Merrick Garland on Wednesday to be the next U.S. attorney general with a strong bipartisan vote, placing the widely respected, veteran judge in the post as President Joe Biden has vowed to restore the Justice Department’s reputation for independence.

High court inclined to expand warrantless entry into homes

February 26, 2021 | Associated Press

The Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday seemed inclined to expand when officers can enter a suspect’s home without a warrant.

Tinder, Williams support Garland’s nomination for AG

February 22, 2021 | IL Staff

A coalition of former federal judges, including two from the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals, is urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Judge Merrick Garland as the U.S. Attorney General, describing him as having a “strong moral compass and abiding integrity.”

AG nominee Garland to focus on civil rights, political independence

February 22, 2021 | Associated Press

Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general, is appearing for his confirmation hearing Monday vowing to prioritize civil rights, combat extremist attacks and ensure the Justice Department remains politically independent.

Indianapolis man pleads guilty to hate crime at neighbor

February 16, 2021 | Associated Press

An Indianapolis man has pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and weapons charges after threatening a Black neighbor.

Justice Department seeks resignations of Trump-era U.S. attorneys

February 9, 2021 | Associated Press and IL Staff

The Justice Department will ask U.S. attorneys who were appointed by former President Donald Trump to resign from their posts, as the Biden administration moves to transition to its own nominees, a senior Justice Department official said Monday.

Biden pressed to end federal death penalty

February 8, 2021 | Associated Press

Joe Biden, the first sitting U.S. president to openly oppose the death penalty, has discussed the possibility of instructing the Department of Justice to stop scheduling new executions, officials have told The Associated Press. But it remains unclear whether Biden may take broader action to halt the federal death penalty.

Five from Indianapolis area sentenced to federal prison in $8.4M fraud scheme

January 18, 2021 | Indianapolis Business Journal Staff

A Zionsville business owner and four others from the Indianapolis area have been sentenced to federal prison for participating in an $8.4 million fraud and money-laundering scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Biden to name judge Merrick Garland as attorney general

January 6, 2021 | Associated Press

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge who in 2016 was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court, as his attorney general, two people familiar with the selection process said Wednesday.

Southern Indiana school settles disability investigation over restraints

January 6, 2021 | Katie Stancombe

A school system based in Princeton that was investigated after a complaint that it used seclusion and restraints on students with disabilities has settled with the United States Department of Justice.

DOJ: Operation Legend yields 94 violent crime arrests in Indy

December 28, 2020 | Olivia Covington

Almost 100 individuals accused of violent crime in Indianapolis have been arrested and charged through a federal program designed to decrease violence across major U.S. cities, the Department of Justice has announced.

Trump asking about special prosecutor for Hunter Biden

December 16, 2020 | Associated Press

President Donald Trump is considering pushing to have a special counsel appointed to advance a federal tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden, setting up a potential showdown with incoming acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen.

Trump says Barr resigning, will leave before Christmas

December 15, 2020 | Associated Press

Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is departing amid lingering tension over the president’s claims of election fraud and the investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son.

Judge dismisses Flynn case following pardon from Trump

December 9, 2020 | Associated Press

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn but pointedly noted that a pardon Flynn received from the president last month does not mean that he is innocent.

Bont: White collar update: Sacklers, Flynn elude criminal charges

December 9, 2020 | Jonathan Bont

In the current administration, it is somewhat unusual for the government to prosecute corporate wrongdoing using every weapon in its arsenal. Particularly given the Department of Justice’s recent practice of publicly announcing decisions not to prosecute corporations that have been under criminal investigation, the recent announcement of resolved criminal charges against Purdue Pharma is unique.

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