Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Attorney Mark I. Cohen Featured in Bloomberg News – Chaos in Courts: ‘Keep Everyone in Jail and We’ll Sort It Out’
Aug. 7, 2020, 4:51 AM Jordan S. Rubin Reporter Jose Javier Rivera Bernard faces what’s become a common Covid-19 dilemma in the criminal justice system, as he sits in New York’s coronavirus-stricken Metropolitan Correctional Center, facing federal drug charges with no end to his case in sight. His lawyer, Mark I. Cohen, thinks he… Read More »
US Attorney General Opens Resolved Immigration Asylum Case After More Than a Decade to Consider Deportation
Attorney General William Barr recently opened an immigration asylum case that could have serious implications for those who have received asylum herein the US, indicating that, even after winning legal battles, protection could be revoked at any moment by the administration. The case involves that of Rashed Chowdhury, a top diplomat in Bangladesh’s embassy… Read More »
Study Finds That Police Are Persistently Racially Biased in Traffic Stops, Searches, And Seizures, Providing Serious Implications for Defense
A new study published in Nature Human Behaviour demonstrates that not only do police stop Black drivers in large part due to their race, but also that they apply a lower evidentiary standard in deciding to conduct searches of Black and Latinx drivers. The study has broad implications, not only demonstrating a “persistent racial… Read More »
New York’s Bail Law Changes: Will This Result in More People Lingering in Jail?
After making important criminal justice reforms here in New York involving the removal of cash bail for many low-level crimes – resulting in what the Center for Court Innovation has reported as a 40 percent drop in people behind bars just from April 2019 to March 2020, Governor Cuomo and the state legislature quickly… Read More »
While Threat to Deport International Students Is Dropped, Questions Surrounding Reentry of Those with F-1 Visas Remain
In a significant reversal on immigration policy and in response to several lawsuits brought by a number of universities, on July 14, the administration changed course and agreed not to deport international college students who rely on online courses here in the US. The administration had not only threatened to deport the students, but… Read More »
Mark Cohen is Presenting in Part Six of the NYCBA’S CLE Webinar Series “Introduction to Federal Criminal Defense for the State Court Practitioner” Thursday July 23rd
The NYCBA and Marino Legal continue their 10-Part CLE Webinar Series “Introduction to Federal Criminal Defense for the State Court Practitioner” this Thursday, July 23, 2020, at 3:30 PM sharp, with the sixth program in this series: “Federal Pretrial Dispositions: Guilty Pleas Pursuant to Cooperation Agreements”. The panelists for this presentation are Nicholas Kaizer,… Read More »
Discovery Laws Change In New York, In Spite of Evidence of Prosecutorial Misconduct
Prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office recently came under fire by one U.S. District Judge after they were caught violating state discovery laws; specifically, failing to hand over evidence favorable to the defense in the case brought against Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad, who was accused and convicted of fraud, money laundering, and violating… Read More »
Summer 2020 Immigration Update: Rules Applying to Asylum Seekers & Foreign Students in The US
Below, we discuss some important recent regulatory directives and court decisions that apply to the rules and regulations that govern immigration in the US: Judge Overturns Rule Requiring That Immigrants First Claim Asylum in Country Reached Before The US In July, a federal judge ruled that yet another immigration policy put in place by… Read More »
US Supreme Court Throws DACA Recipients a Lifeline, While Trump Administration Strikes Down Temporary Work Visas for Skilled Workers & Asylum Seekers
In June, the US Supreme Court blocked President Trump’s plan to allow for 700,000 “DREAMers” to be deported. As a result, those who are eligible for DACA may now be able to apply as, while the administration has not accepted new applicants since 2017, this may now be different due to the Court’s recent… Read More »
The US Supreme Court Declines to Rule On Qualified Immunity, Leaving It Up to Congress
In late June, the US Supreme Court declined to hear any of the cases on qualified immunity, which protects police officers and other government officials from being sued for violating the constitutional rights of citizens unless they engage in the exact same actions that have already been ruled by the courts to be illegal…. Read More »
