Federal Crimes

The proliferation of cellphones and other portable devices that can take and transmit photographs has given rise to a new form of child pornography -- the taking and transmitting of photographs of minor children via the Internet. A selfie, as most people in...

The advent of the Internet has spawned a variety of criminal activities that are commonly referred to as "cybercrimes," "computer crimes," and "network crimes." The terms are used interchangeably and do not vary in their meaning. A Massachusetts who resident commits...

Federal courts in Massachusetts and elsewhere use two kinds of juries: petit and grand. Petit juries hear evidence at trial and return a verdict of guilty or not guilty. The work of grand juries focuses on investigating federal crimes to determine whether probable...

One of the most widely known phrases from American criminal law is "pleading the Fifth." While many people in Massachusetts are familiar with the phrase, very few know exactly what the phrase means. The phrase refers to the Fifth Amendment to the United States...

All fifty states, including Massachusetts, require convicted sex offenders to provide certain information about their current residence, employment and related life information. The purpose of compiling this information is to allow members of the public to check up on...

Computers have infiltrated the lives of almost everyone who lives in Massachusetts, and the English language has consequently incorporated new verbs and nouns -- spam, viruses, malware, identify theft and hacking, to name a few. Despite the advantages of living in the...

Most people in Massachusetts understand that a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to engage in criminal conduct. But what, exactly, is a federal conspiracy? The answer is both simple and complex.The United States Criminal Code states that "If two or...

The laws of Massachusetts define several kinds of conduct as sex crimes, including sexual conduct with a minor, sexual assault, child molestation and numerous others. Generally, most offenses involving sexual misconduct fall within the jurisdictions of the individual...

Larceny is the "taking of someone else's property without the use of force" - this is the main difference between larceny and robbery, which is generally defined as the taking of someone's property with threats, intimidation and force. To be convicted for larceny in...

A previous blog post discussed the Massachusetts sex offender registration requirements. Sex offenders convicted of certain offenses must comply with Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Law which requires them to report personal details such as their names, addresses,...