Reviews of Three Felonies a Day
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"Feds run amok? Civil liberties lawyer uncovers prosecutors' abuse of power"
The Harvard Law Record
January 14, 2010
By Matt Hutchins
"When Raj Rajaratnam was taken into federal custody for violating securities laws, his arrest came with prosecutors’ and investigative agencies’ usual fanfare over having rooted out a bad apple and sent a warning to other would-be violators. Within days, his hedge fund, the Galleon Group, had shut its doors, unable to cope with the pressure the indictment put on its ability to carry on business.
The weight of an indictment by a federal grand jury can crush even the most promising career. And while the gravity of an accusation would seem to counsel restraint in the pursuit of those who violate federal law, a new book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent, by prominent Boston defense attorney Harvey Silverglate ’67, argues that the truth is the exact opposite.
According to Silverglate, federal prosecutors have increasingly come to rely on vague criminal laws to investigate and indict professionals in the fields of medicine, politics, law, business, journalism, and non-profit service for a range of practices that have not historically been criminalized. The reasons for these prosecutions range from the self-aggrandizing desire of prosecutors to impose standards of professional conduct on other economic domains to the crass abuse of power for purely political motives. ... (Read on at HLRecord.org)
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"Silverglate, in a book, indicts federal prosecutors"
The Boston Globe
November 23, 2009
By Steve Weinberg
"Boston lawyer Harvey A. Silverglate began outlining what became the book “Three Felonies a Day’’ 19 years ago, when he could no longer contain his anger at what he viewed as federal prosecutors abusing their power. Now that the book is complete, it will be interesting to watch whether a defense lawyer’s indictment of those he says sometimes file criminal charges against seemingly innocent women and men will alter the balance of power.
For those less well versed in American courts, one concept is vital to appreciate Silverglate’s outrage: The US criminal justice system is bipartite. Local prosecutors (usually called the “district attorney’’) enforce the laws passed by the state legislature at the county level.
The other prong of the criminal justice system is federal, presided over by a US attorney. That prosecutor is appointed by the president of the United States with input from the Justice Department, then confirmed by the Senate. The US attorney - at least one in each state - enforces federal laws, which cover different crimes than state laws. Federal laws are often more sweeping and less specific than state laws, giving US attorneys greater leverage against alleged criminals than district attorneys wield. ... (Read on at Boston.com)
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"The wrong arm of the law"
The Guardian (UK)
November 17, 2009
By Dan Kennedy
"Sharp-elbowed business executives and grasping politicians may not be especially popular figures within the American iconography. But membership in either of those classes is not a federal crime.
Except when it is.
In an important new book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent, Boston civil-rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate argues that over the past several decades the federal government, relying on vague, dangerously elastic statutes, has criminalised a whole range of activities. The result, Silverglate contends, is that people are regularly sent to prison for crimes they hadn't even known they'd committed. ... (Read on at guardian.co.uk)
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⇒ More from the Guardian
• "United against the state," by Henry Porter - November 30, 2009
"'Three Felonies' an indictment against Justice Department"
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
July 13, 2009
By Judge Robert Cornetta
"In a work that is sure to stir sharp public debate, veteran defense-attorney-turned author Harvey A. Silverglate examines the legally and politically charged issues surrounding recent federal criminal prosecutions.
The author begins with the premise that federal criminal statutes have become so pervasive and ambiguous that every person in America can be seen to have committed a federal crime any time a prosecutor subjectively determines the same.
Added to this theory is Silverglate's suggestion that federal prosecutions frequently are brought for other than legitimate law enforcement purposes. ... (Read on at masslawyersweekly.com - subscription required)
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