Welcome to the Twenty-First Edition of the Annual Survey of White Collar Crime. Recent years have seen significant changes in this field, many of which are captured in these pages. Most recently and quite notably, the United States Supreme Court, in United States v. Booker, held the United States Sentencing Guidelines to be advisory rather than mandatory, which already has had a dramatic effect on the criminal justice system. We have carefully reviewed the sections discussing the Guidelines and believe that these sections accurately represent the current state of the law. As you reference these sections and the Guidelines, please keep in mind their continuing significance, even in light of their advisory status.
This year, the Survey begins with an Essay written by Debra Wong Yang and Brian M. Hoffstadt. Ms. Yang, a former federal prosecutor and superior court judge, is currently serving as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California. Mr. Hoffstadt is an Assistant United States Attorney working in the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Division in the Central District of California and is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. The Essay discusses countering cyber-crime, with specific attention paid to which group should be assigned the primary burden of combating it. In so doing, the authors discuss what considerations policymakers should examine in choosing among these potential groups. We are pleased to offer the...