Blackmail or extortion, which can be used interchangeably, pursuant to the 1942 Illinois Supreme Court opinion in People v. Mahumed, is an unlawful act of one party such as intentionally threatening, accusing of crime, injuring the other...
criminal law
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In 2009, Jeremy Pinson, a prisoner serving twenty years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega, Alabama, challenged the constitutionally of his confinement conditions. See Pinson v. Samuels, 761 F.3d 1, 2–3 (D.C. Cir. 2014). Pinson...
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Petitioner Duane Buck was convicted of capital murder for the July 1995 deaths of his ex-girlfriend Debra Gardner and her friend Kenneth Butler. See Buck v. Stephens, No.14-70030 at *2 (5th Cir., filed Aug 20, 2015). During the sentencing phase, Buck’s...
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Facts
On November 17, 2009, Breanna Brown, a confidential informant cooperating with the Central Iowa Drug Task Force, conducted a controlled buy of heroin from suspected drug dealer “Lil C.” See United States v. Burrage, 687 F.3d 1015, 1018 (8th Cir....
(Wex page)
The but-for test is a test commonly used in both tort law and criminal law to determine actual causation. The test asks, "but for the existence of X, would Y have occurred?"
In tort law, but-for causation is a prerequisite...
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In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a state police officer pulled petitioner Terrence Byrd over for violating a state driving law. United States v. Byrd at 2. The police officer, eventually accompanied by another officer, found that Byrd was driving a rental...
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Cannibalism is defined as the consumption of another human's body matter, whether consensual or not. In the United States, there are no laws against cannibalism per se, but most, if not all, states have enacted laws that indirectly make it...
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Respondent Patrick Dwayne Murphy is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Indian tribe. Carpenter v. Murphy (“Carpenter”) at 7. In August 1999, Murphy murdered an acquaintance on disputed tribal land. Id. He was arrested and tried in Oklahoma state’s...
(Wex page)
The castle doctrine refers to an exception to the duty to retreat before using deadly self-defense if a party is in their own home.
Under the doctrine of self-defense, a party who reasonably believes they are threatened...
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In 2012, Andrew Cuomo, New York Governor at the time, launched the “Buffalo Billion” initiative to develop the Buffalo area with $1 billion in taxpayer funds. United States v. Percoco at 165. Alain Kaloyeros, the head of the College of Nanoscale...