About

Professor Ellen S. Podgor is the Gary R. Trombley Family White Collar Crime Research Professor and Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law. She is a former deputy prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, who teaches and writes in the areas of White Collar Crime, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure: Adjudication, Ethics, and Computer Crimes. She is the lead author of the Hornbook on White Collar Crime. Her bio can be found HERE and her SSRN page HERE.

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Ellen S. Podgor
  • In Memoriam: G. Robert Blakey, the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Professor of Law Emeritus, Notre Dame Law School here. To me (and likely others) – Professor Blakey was the father of the Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organization Act (RICO). RIP Professor Blakey. (esp)

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  • Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted here. (esp)

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  • DOJ Indicts SPLC

    DOJ issued an indictment today against the Southern Poverty Law Center – here. It charges six counts of wire fraud, four counts of false statements to a federally insured bank, and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. It alleges that “[t]o carry out this scheme and artifice, the SPLC explicitly sought donations

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  • Previously reported here, is the NACDL creation of a DOJ Tracker. Now online, is the Year One Report of this Tracker. The Report focuses on two observations and the first is particularly interesting – “the lack of consistency and transparency in the reporting of “no true bills” issued by grand juries.” There is a logical

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  • On April 7, 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (note the DOJ website as of this morning still has Pamela Bondi as AG – update showing on 4/13/26) issued a Memorandum (here) that creates the National Fraud Enforcement Division (NFED). This division is to provide a centralized body for the investigation and prosecution of fraud

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  • RIP Robert Mueller

    A by-the-book Republican who served nonpolitically as the director of the FBI. His extraordinary work on protection of national security following 9-11 will be remembered. The Mueller Report, a public Report, told us all of the Russian Interference in the 2016 election. When called to serve – he did. Whether it be to fight in

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  • Guest Blogger – Kaleb Byars On March 10, 2026, the DOJ issued its Department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (the “Policy”).  According to a press release issued the same day, the Policy supersedes all previously-existing component-specific self-disclosure policies (except those relating to antitrust).  Among other things, the Policy is designed to promote voluntary self-disclosure of corporate criminal conduct

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  • AI Criminality

    My new draft article, “Smart Crime” can be found here – As AI grows increasingly sophisticated and autonomous, the absence of a dedicated criminal law framework mirrors the early struggles with computer crimes, when shoehorning misconduct into existing statutes like wire fraud and espionage were ineffective. This Article demonstrates the inadequacy of existing law to

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  • Professor Ira Robbins, in his Essay, Against an AI Privilege “argues that—at least under current technological, social, and institutional conditions—any such privilege would be premature, unworkable, and inconsistent with the historically rooted approach to evidentiary privileges.” This approach is seen in Hon. Jed Rakoff’s Memorandum in U.S. v. Heppner that rejects the attorney-client and work

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  • NACDL states here: “In response to significant shifts in federal criminal enforcement that depart from historical prosecutorial practices, NACDL has launched a Criminal Case Tracker to monitor and analyze select federal prosecutions that reflect unusual or aggressive uses of criminal law. ‘Unusual’ refers to charging decisions, enforcement theories, or prosecutorial tactics that mark a departure

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