Criminal Law

How prosecutions work and when force is legal: immunity, money laundering, crimes abroad, stand-your-ground, and the duty to retreat.

3:28

Brief

What is criminal immunity?

Use immunity, transactional immunity, and why prosecutors, not judges, decide who gets a deal

3:43

Brief

When can the U.S. prosecute crimes committed abroad?

How U.S. criminal law reaches citizens, foreign nationals, and conduct overseas, from bank cases to bribery

1:47

Brief

What Exactly Is Money Laundering?

A Columbia law professor explains the two elements that turn moving money into a federal crime.

2:22

Brief

Can a President "Obstruct Justice?"

What counts as obstruction, why a sitting president is not indicted, and how presidential immunity applies.

1:08

Brief

Can deportation be punishment for crime?

Why deportation is a civil consequence of a conviction rather than part of the criminal sentence.

3:18

Brief

What are stand your ground laws?

Stand-your-ground removes one narrow duty to retreat, but force must still be necessary and proportionate.

2:34

Brief

What is the duty to retreat?

No retreat for non-deadly force or at home: when the law requires you to walk away before using deadly force.

5:00

Brief

Forfeiting the Right to Self-Defense

Initial aggressors, provocateurs, and how you can lose, and sometimes regain, the right to defend yourself.

5:08

Brief

When can police use deadly force?

The Fourth Amendment limits on police deadly force under Tennessee v. Garner, and why many states go further.