Border Cops Try To Make an End Run Around Attorney-Client Privilege
Detroit lawyer Amir Makled has confidential client data on his phone. That didn’t stop U.S. Customs and Border Protection from trying to search it.
Fourth Amendment
What To Do If Border Police Ask To Search Your Phone
Know how much the law does—and doesn’t—protect your privacy rights.
Will ICE Use the Alien Enemies Act To Enter Homes Without Warrants?
Already this year, the agency has allegedly conducted a warrantless raid in Newark and several warrantless arrests in the Midwest.
The FBI Seized This Woman's Life Savings—Without Telling Her Why
Linda Martin's lawsuit alleges that the agency violated her right to due process when it took her $40,200 and sent her a notice failing to articulate the reason.
A SWAT Team Raided This Innocent Family's Home. The Supreme Court Won't Hear Their Case.
Whether or not a reasonable police officer violates clearly established law when he declines to check the features and address of his target house before raiding it is thus still up for debate.
Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch on the Fourth Amendment and Misdemeanor Arrests
"Founding-era common law gave officers no authority to make an 'arrest without a warrant, for a mere misdemeanor not committed in [their] presence.'"
Will FBI Director Kash Patel Be a Principled Reformer or a Trump Hatchet Man?
The newly confirmed head of the country's leading law enforcement agency has a history of advocating politically motivated investigations even while condemning them.
Pervasive Police Corruption in Albuquerque Explains Why a Teetotaler Was Arrested for DWI
A driver who was acquitted of drunk driving joins a class action lawsuit provoked by a bribery scheme that went undetected for decades.
Alabama Cops Cooked Up Bogus Charges After Arresting Man They Tased While Handcuffed, Lawsuit Says
Video of the incident shows Micah Washington screaming as a Reform, Alabama, police officer deploys a Taser directly into his back.
DEA Ends Airport Gate Searches After Years of Documented Abuses of Civil Asset Forfeiture
The Justice Department temporarily suspended the program in November because of "significant risks" of constitutional violations.
Georgia Man Sues Glynn County Police After He Was Arrested for Refusing To Give ID
A police incident report admitted "we had no probable cause" to arrest the man on loitering and prowling charges after he wouldn't give his name to officers.
Kentucky Cops Arrest Man for Shouting at Them
"Speaking from a balcony isn't a crime," the man's lawyer says. "And just because a cop was offended because of some language doesn't give him the power to arrest you."
Hypocrisy on Bodily Autonomy at the DEA
Trump’s pick for federal drug enforcement was ousted for not respecting personal freedom. Too bad that that’s a job requirement.
Intrusive Small Business Reporting Law Slapped With Nationwide Injunction
A judge says the federal law has no constitutional basis and threatens First and Fourth Amendment rights.
An Alabama D.A. Filed Legally Impossible Charges Against School Board Members Who Crossed Him
A board employee and a local reporter were arrested on the same bogus charge of divulging nonexistent grand jury secrets.
Dallas Voters Nix an All-Purpose Excuse for Police Harassment: 'I Smelled Marijuana'
The ballot initiative says a whiff of weed does not establish probable cause for a search or seizure, which was already doubtful in light of hemp legalization.
Nearly Five Years After Breonna Taylor's Death, Justice Remains Elusive
A long-delayed conviction illustrates the difficulty of holding cops accountable for abusing their powers.
Cop Who Fired Blindly Into Breonna Taylor's Home Is Convicted of Violating Her Constitutional Rights
Former Louisville detective Brett Hankison is one of four officers who faced federal charges after a deadly 2020 drug raid.
After 100 Years, End the Open Fields Doctrine
Federal agents are allowed to search private property without a warrant under this Prohibition-era Supreme Court precedent.
Chip Mellor's Legacy Promotes a Broader Concept of Civil Liberties
For more than three decades, the Institute for Justice has shown that economic freedom and private property are essential safeguards for ordinary Americans.
Former Houston Drug Cop Gets 60 Years for His Deadly Lies
That amounts to a life sentence for Gerald Goines, who instigated the no-knock raid that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas by falsely accusing them of selling heroin.
A Texas Cop Endangered Himself by Jumping Onto a Moving Car. Then He Shot the Driver.
The Supreme Court will review a 5th Circuit decision that let the officer off the hook without considering the recklessness that turned a routine traffic stop into a deadly encounter.
A Houston Drug Cop's Murder Conviction Highlights the Potentially Deadly Consequences of 'Testilying'
Similar scandals across the country suggest the problem is widespread.
Alabama Pastor Can Sue the Cops Who Arrested Him For Refusing To Show His ID
A federal judge rejected the officers' claims of qualified immunity.
Former Houston Drug Cop Convicted of Murder After His Lies Resulted in Two Deaths
The jury accepted the prosecution's argument that Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas died because of Gerald Goines' fraudulent search warrant affidavit.
Jurors Weigh Murder Charges Against Former Houston Drug Cop Who Lied to Justify a Deadly Home Invasion
But for Gerald Goines' lies on a search warrant affidavit, prosecutors argued, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas would still be alive.
A Movie Mirrors the Stranger-Than-Fiction Reality of Civil Asset Forfeiture
The outrageous seizure at the center of Rebel Ridge resembles real-life cash grabs.
Tyreek Hill's Violent Traffic Stop Shows Wider Police Problems in Miami
In body camera footage from Hill's arrest, Miami-Dade officers intimidate bystanders and invoke a law that hasn't gone into effect yet.
Houston Officials Trusted a Dishonest Drug Cop for Decades Before His Lies Killed 2 People
But for a disastrous raid, narcotics officer Gerald Goines would have been free to continue framing people he thought were guilty.
Houston Cop Who Lied To Justify a No-Knock Drug Raid Says He Is Not Responsible for the Resulting Deaths
Former narcotics officer Gerald Goines faces two murder charges for instigating the home invasion that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas.
How Post-Arrest DNA Swabs Threaten Innocent People's Privacy
Most states collect DNA from felony arrestees pretrial. They should need a warrant to do so.
Federal Judge Highlights the Hazards of Reckless Drug War Tactics
The ruling notes that Breonna Taylor’s death resulted from the "late-night, surprise manner of entry."
Why a Federal Judge Dismissed 2 Felony Charges Stemming From the Drug Raid That Killed Breonna Taylor
U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson concluded that the alleged facts did not support penalty enhancements for violating the Fourth Amendment but left several other charges in place.
Wearing a "Military-Style" Tactical Vest to School Isn't a Crime
The Eighth Circuit held that plaintiffs had adequately alleged that school resource officers lacked probable cause to arrest them; note that nothing in the court's decision casts doubt on the school's ability to investigate or even briefly detain the students short of arrest.
The Feds Are Skirting the Fourth Amendment by Buying Data
The government needs a warrant to spy on you. So agencies are paying tech companies to do it instead.
Police Cannot Seize Property Indefinitely After an Arrest, Federal Court Rules
Many circuit courts have said that law enforcement can hold your property for as long as they want. D.C.’s high court decided last week that’s unconstitutional.
NFL's Facial Recognition Technology Sparks Fears of Fan Surveillance
Personal data retained by government or private entities are always at risk of compromise, misuse, or access by law enforcement.
Case Over Handcuffing and 30-Minute Detention of Concealed Carry Permit Holder Can Go Forward
"[A] person in possession of a firearm and a facially valid permit for that firearm had a clearly established right to be free from the kind of forcible and prolonged detention to which Soukaneh was subjected, absent any objective reason to suspect that the permit was forged or otherwise invalid."
Comedian Hannibal Buress's False Arrest Lawsuit Can Go Forward
"Roast[ing]" police officers may not generally be wise, but it is still generally constitutionally protected.
Pit Stop Policing Transforms Traffic Violations Into High-Stakes Drug Hunts
South Carolina's Operation Rolling Thunder targets cash and contraband but harasses guilty and innocent travelers alike.
The FBI Raided This Innocent Woman's House. Will She Ever Get Justice?
Thus far, the courts have barred Curtrina Martin from asking a jury for damages. She is appealing to the Supreme Court.
South Carolina Cops and Courts Rig the Game Against Drivers
An uneven playing field allows the aggressive tactics and legal loopholes that turn traffic stops into cash grabs.
Inside the Unchecked Bus Searches by South Carolina Police
Routine searches of commercial buses violate privacy, target low-income passengers, and result in widespread violations.
South Carolina Cops Target Out-of-State Drivers for Highway Robbery
No arrest necessary as South Carolina police hunt for cash
Operation Rolling Thunder: The Shocking Truth Behind Spartanburg's Traffic Stops
A 21-month legal battle unveils the dark side of South Carolina's annual traffic crackdown.
Courts Close the Loophole Letting the Feds Search Your Phone at the Border
Customs and Border Protection insists that it can search electronics without a warrant. A federal judge just said it can't.
She 'Came at Me With Boiling Water,' a Cop Charged With Murder Claims, Contradicting What Video Shows
An Illinois sheriff's deputy with a spotty employment history shot Sonya Massey in the face after responding to her report of a prowler.
