This column reports on several significant, representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Pamela K. Chen found no due process violation by the government in taking brief control, for investigative purposes, of an established website that had been giving users anonymous access to child pornography. Judge Joseph F. Bianco affirmed two bankruptcy court decisions, one finding a particular debt non-dischargeable as arising from “willful and malicious injury,” and one denying discharge entirely based on debtor’s misstatements and failures of production. And Judge Arthur D. Spatt dismissed a copyright claim alleging unlawful copying of the design for a private residence.
‘Outrageous’ Conduct
In United States v. Kim, 16 CR 191 (EDNY, Jan. 27, 2017), Judge Chen held that the government’s operation for two weeks of a previously ongoing website in order to obtain evidence regarding possession of child pornography did not amount to outrageous conduct warranting the indictment’s dismissal.
