News

“We’d Be in Uncharted Waters” Professor Greg Germain on a Possible Jail Sentence in Donald Trump Criminal Case

Professor Gregory Germain spoke with Newsweek on the September 18 sentencing of Donald Trump in the false business records criminal case. Germain believes an appeals court would strike down any prison term.

“If Judge Merchan sentenced him to jail in the middle of the election for this records violation, I think the courts would do whatever is necessary to prevent it. We’d be in uncharted waters,” he said. “But I don’t think Merchan will sentence him to jail. I think there were serious problems with the case, and it should be reversed on appeal in due order without upsetting the election cycle.”

Professor David Driesen Discusses How the SCOTUS Presidential Immunity Ruling Could Affect New Trump Indictment

University Professor David Driesen spoke with Salon for the article, “Legal scholars warn SCOTUS could “manipulate” immunity definition to torpedo new Trump indictment” relating to a new indictment Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed against Donald Trump.

“It’s not clear whether this will work because on appeal the Supreme Court can manipulate the category of official conduct to create a broader immunity covering other elements of the indictment,” says Driesen.

“The Supreme Court ruling clearly overrode longstanding constitutional norms forbidding presidents from issuing orders to investigate political opponents or to challenge election results,” he says. “The forcing of these amendments to the indictment highlights how the high court has opened the door wide to autocracy.”

Professor Shubha Ghosh Discusses Google Antitrust Ruling With Techopedia

Professor Shubha Ghosh, Director of the Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute, spoke with Techopedia for their article, “Can Internet Search Survive Google Antitrust Ruling?” Recently, a federal judge found that Google maintained an illegal monopoly on the internet search engine market.

Ghosh says that the ruling could lead to a point where the court would force Google to rework some of its contracts with partners.

“The ruling could help move internet search into a purer regime where search companies can finance search engines without distorting them. The court will likely move to rework contracts with vendors and advertisers. But there is only so much the court can do,” says Ghosh.

Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law Hosts New York State Board of Elections Election Security Workshop and Tabletop Exercises

The Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL) recently hosted a New York State Board of Elections Election Security Workshop and Tabletop Exercises in Dineen Hall. The purpose of the event was to ensure readiness by all entities as the general election approaches, offering a collaborative opportunity for government authorities, election administrators, law enforcement, and information technology experts, alike.

The County Boards of Elections, the Cyber & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the New York State Executive Chamber, the New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (DHSES), the New York State Police (NYSP), and the New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) participated in the event.

SPL faculty observed the exercises and networked with participants to generate future collaborations and opportunities for SPL students.

“Stuck Her Chin Out” Professor Emeritus William C. Banks on Judge Aileen Cannon Throwing Out the Donald Trump Documents Case

Special counsel John L. “Jack” Smith recently filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to reverse an order made by Judge Aileen Cannon that threw out the case saying the appointment of a special counsel was unconstitutional.

Speaking with Roll Call, Professor Emeritus William C. Banks said Cannon “stuck her chin out” with that ruling. Banks said Cannon’s ruling cut against decades of court decisions upholding the constitutionality of special counsels as well as the prior independent counsel statute.

“Prosecutors, attorneys general have had discretion to appoint officials for all sorts of circumstances since the beginning of the republic,” Banks said.

University Professor David Driesen Discusses Potential Legal Battles Surrounding the Presidential Election

University Professor David Driesen spoke with Business Insider for the article, “The courts could decide this presidential election, and both campaigns are gearing up for an ugly legal fight.”

“You now have, in the swing states of Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, about 70 election deniers and commissions that are supposed to count the electoral votes, and already there have been about 20 cases where officials in recent elections have refused or delayed certification of results,” Driesen says. “So what Trump is going to do is claim some kind of fraud and then try to get the officials who believe him to delay or prevent certification on election results.”

Professor Shubha Ghosh Provides Insight into RealPage Antitrust Case

Professor Shubha Ghosh recently spoke with Legal Dive on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust case against RealPage. The DOJ has sued RealPage under the Sherman Antitrust Act for deploying an algorithm that helped rental property owners turn into price-fixing collaborators.

Ghosh notes that the Supreme Court has made it clear it distinguishes between anticompetitive behavior among companies and the tools they use to reach their pricing decisions. That means the DOJ must show “a physical agreement to price-fix” to prove a Sherman Act violation.

By focusing on the rental algorithm, Ghosh says, the agency appears to be sidestepping this essential requirement and instead is “creating an inference of an agreement from the use of the algorithm. This shift would undermine traditional antitrust safeguards for competition.”

“Profoundly Weak” Professor Nina Kohn on State of Texas v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Professor Nina Kohn recently spoke with Law360 on the lawsuit State of Texas v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, et al. that seeks to overturn minimum nursing home staffing levels as set by the U.S Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in April.

In the article “With Billions At Stake, Texas Suits Target Nursing Home Rule” states, Kohn says allegations that the rule is arbitrary and capricious, are undermined by research on the staffing levels necessary to avoid neglect and the full regulatory review CMS carried out before issuing the standards.

“Already, nursing homes were required to have sufficient staff to meet resident needs,” Kohn told Law360. “The problem is that they routinely didn’t. And because there was no set number of staff hours per day set, it was hard for regulators to hold nursing homes accountable for not having the staff needed to avoid neglect.”

The full article may be behind a paywall.

Thomas M. Leith Joins Syracuse Law Faculty and Named Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic

Thomas M. Leith has joined the faculty of Syracuse University College of Law and was named Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic (CDC.) Leith is an Associate Teaching Professor who teaches Legal Communication and Research and Trial Practice courses.

At the CDC, Leith will oversee Syracuse Law student-attorneys as they represent clients charged with misdemeanors and violations in Syracuse City Court and town courts in Onondaga County. Clients are represented at pretrial hearings and trials and are assisted in managing the civil consequences related to their criminal cases. All criminal cases are assigned to the Clinic through the court.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Leith was the Managing Attorney of the Criminal and Appeals Programs at Hiscock Legal Aid Society (HLAS) in Syracuse, New York. He joined HLAS in 2020 as a Staff Attorney in Appeals. As Managing Attorney, he oversaw programs at HLAS representing indigent clients in their criminal, Sex Offender Registry Act, and family court appeals, post-conviction advocacy, and indigent parole clients in their hearings and appeals.

Leith spent the previous ten years as a trial-level public defender: first with Brooklyn Defender Services in Brooklyn, NY, then with the Law Offices of the Shelby County Public Defender in Memphis, TN. In his years in the courtroom, he has defended every type of criminal case, from violations and misdemeanors to clients charged with first-degree murder.

Before his roles in public service, Leith was in private practice at law firms in New York City. Leith also clerked for then-Chief Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Since 2023, Leith has been an adjunct professor at the College of Law, teaching trial practice.

Leith earned a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

“A Clever Ploy” – Professor Gregory Germain on the Upcoming Sentencing of Donald Trump in His Criminal Case

Professor Gregory Germain spoke with Salon for an article about the September 18 sentencing of Donald Trump in the New York criminal case and efforts made by Trump’s attorneys to have the sentencing postponed until after the upcoming election.

“I think Trump’s request to delay sentencing is a clever ploy to make a record to argue in federal court that the judge was politically motivated to interfere with the federal election,” says Germain. “I doubt that the court will delay sentencing, but it will give Trump an additional argument to challenge the sentencing on appeal, or collaterally in a habeas corpus case if he’s sentenced to prison.”