FBI reports rise in public corruption cases News
FBI reports rise in public corruption cases

[JURIST] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website] is currently investigating 2,500 cases of public corruption, a 50 percent increase from five years ago, FBI Director Robert Mueller [official profile] said in a Thursday speech [text] to the American Bar Association. Mueller also said that corporate fraud cases had increased by more than 80 percent from five years ago, due in large part to recent mortgage fraud cases. The FBI currently has over 1,300 mortgage fraud cases under investigation, including 19 corporate fraud matters related to the sub prime-lending crisis [FBI report]. AP has more.

The number of criminal cases pursued by the FBI has drastically decreased since the 9/11 attacks, according to statistics released by the Department of Justice [official website] in 2006. Those statistics revealed that the FBI has shifted its traditional focus [FBI backgrounder] on drugs and white collar crimes to terrorism.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org