It’s a development that more Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys should take seriously. Online phone service Skype is seriously increasing its cooperation with law enforcement to make information easily available to these officers. The data that could be exchanged with law enforcement as part of cooperation between Skype and law enforcement are online chats as well as other user details.

For a long time now, Skype has had barriers that concealed important user details from being shared with law enforcement. For years now, authorities have complained that Skype's encryption abilities made it hard for law enforcement to crack down on persons who are suspected of offenses, like drug-related crimes, pedophilia and other sex crimes, and even terrorists.

Law-enforcement officers say that they have enough evidence to indicate that many dangerous criminals use Skype to communicate. However, there are increasing signs that Skype has incorporated a number of changes that would now make important details like credit card numbers and addresses available to law enforcement.

For several months now, hackers as well as privacy experts have been alleging that Skype has been making changes to its architecture, so that chats are more easily monitored by the government. Those changes are likely influenced by Microsoft, which bought Skype last year. Microsoft has a reputation for cooperating with law enforcement and governments in countries around the world.

Skype confirmed last year that it had changed its rules to allow the surveillance of online chats or online messaging on its platform. However, even with those changes, law enforcement could require a court order to access private online messages on the platform.

A massive surge in the number of elderly inmates in the country's prisons has meant additional expenses of millions of dollars in the care of these inmates. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the population of these senior inmates has increased dramatically over the past 3 decades. Currently, there are estimated to be as many as 125,000 inmates aged 55 and above lodged in the country's prisons.

That number is an increase of a staggering 1300% over the early 1980s. This massive population of elderly inmates has meant increased expenses for state as well as federal authorities. Every year, states and federal government spent as much as $16 billion in keeping elderly prisoners behind bars.

Prisoners aged 50 and above currently cost approximately $68,000 a year to keep in our country's prisons. That is in sharp contrast to the $34,000 it takes to keep a younger prisoner behind bars.

These increased expenses are a strain on an already overburdened and financially stressed prison system. Even so, there is no sign that prison authorities are considering releasing elderly inmates to relieve the congestion in prisons. This is in spite of the fact that there is no evidence to indicate that any of these senior citizens will pose any threat to public safety if they're released.

Many Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys believe that the situation will only get worse. Unless, policy changes are implemented to ensure that elderly inmates who are no longer any threat to public safety are released from prison, the number of these elderly inmates could increase to up to 400,000 over the next 15 years. This increases the financial burden at a time when state and federal budgets are already under attack. According to one analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union, states can save as much as $66,000 per year for every senior inmate released.

After a three day Federal crackdown on prostitution, 884 arrests have been made, including 99 alleged pimps, and 29 allege gang members involved with the federal human trafficking of underage Somali and African-American girls. This large scale Federal sweep was known as “Operation Cross Country V” and involved 40 cities across the United States. The agencies involved in the arrest and investigation included the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Child Exploitation Obscenity Section, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

All the suspects arrested as part of this Federal prostitution investigation, will face federal criminal charges dealing with forcing a minor across sate lines to engage in prohibited sexual conduct with others. As a federal criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles who represents many clients accused of federal sex crimes, the Federal sweeps which result in numerous defendant arrests can be difficult cases to crack.

A person accused of federal human trafficking, under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which may be charged under the section of the Federal Guidelines entitled, “Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor; Transportation of Minors to Engage in a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct; Travel to Engage in Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor; Sex Trafficking of Children; Use of Interstate Facilities to Transport Information about a Minor” may face up to life in federal prison depending on the circumstances surrounding the federal prostitution allegations.

If you, or a loved one, has been accused of, or arrested for, a federal sex crime such as human trafficking, then call the experienced federal defense attorneys at the Law Offices of Karen L. Goldstein today for a free, confidential consultation: (888) 445-6313.