Due Process
Border Cops Can Search Your Phone Whenever They Want, If You're Within 100 Miles of the Border
They can also search it without a warrant if you're flying abroad. Yes, even if you're an American citizen.
How the Right to Trial Became a Legal Fiction
Half a century after approving coercive plea bargaining, the Supreme Court is beginning to recognize its costs.
'Scrap It and Start All Over': Ex-Bush and Obama Officials Say the War on Terror's Powers Have Gone Too Far
In a rare display of candor, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson reflected on torture, Guantanamo Bay, and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.
Balogun's World Cup Red Card Is Suspended -- Justly
I've seen some carping about the process. But getting to the right result is the ultimate goal.
Why Balogun's World Cup Red Card Was Incorrect
A lawyer's—and former trial judge's—perspective.
4 Ways the 'Big Beautiful Bill' Supercharged Trump's Immigration Crackdown
A look back on a year of immigration enforcement expansion funded by the OBBBA.
Neil Gorsuch Urges Supreme Court To Correct 2 Wrong Turns That Undermined Civil Liberties
The justice criticizes the Court’s endorsement of coercive plea bargaining and its embrace of dubious Fourth Amendment doctrines.
Here Are Some Ways SCOTUS Can Constrain Federal Agencies That Are Now Subject to Trump's Untrammeled Control
The Supreme Court has "no shortage of tools" to enforce the separation of powers, Justice Neil Gorsuch notes. "The only real question is whether we will use them."
New Jersey Supreme Court Requires Transparency for Facial Recognition Evidence
Prosecutors in New Jersey must disclose how the technology is used in criminal cases, the state’s Supreme Court ruled.
A Supreme Court Decision Restricting Appeal Waivers Underlines the Injustice of Coercive Plea Bargaining
The Supreme Court ruled that "an agreement not to appeal a sentence is unenforceable when it would result in a miscarriage of justice."
The Trump Administration Seriously Considered Unilaterally Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus
The proposal was nixed only after White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf explained why it was legally dubious.
Colorado Becomes Second State To Create Right to an Attorney When Police Seize Your Property
A bill tightening Colorado's civil asset forfeiture laws passed the state legislature by wide bipartisan margins and was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.
Department of Homeland Security
DHS Says He's a Terrorist. His Lawyers Say He's Being Punished for Palestinian Advocacy.
The legal team of Salah Sarsour alleges that he risks death from being denied basic diabetes care after two months in detention.
Trump's Position in the White House Ballroom Case Reflects His General Resistance to Judicial Review
The president has repeatedly argued that courts have no business deciding whether his actions are legal.
Penis Measurements Cannot Justify a Sex Offender's Indefinite Detention, South Carolina's Top Court Says
The court unanimously ruled that penile plethysmography is unreliable and inadmissible as evidence of recidivism risk.
DHS Can't Decide If There's a Hunger Strike Going on at a New Jersey Detention Center
Trump administration officials say there's no hunger strike at the Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey, but they'll force-feed detainees if it gets bad enough.
250 Years Later, Benjamin Franklin's Warning Is Still Relevant
He famously said the Founders had created "a republic, if you can keep it." How have we kept it? And can we continue?
An Alabama Mom Delivered a Preterm Baby in a Jail Cell. She Says Staff Refused To Help.
The mother is suing after she delivered her preterm baby on the jail's floor following 24 hours of labor with no medical assistance.
How the ACLU Started Defending the Second Amendment
The civil liberties group, which long maintained that there is no constitutional right to arms, sang a different tune at the Supreme Court this year.
Secret ICE Memo Tells Local Police Not To Disclose Immigration Enforcement Info Without ICE's Permission
The agency's transparency policies may undermine federal and state laws designed to ensure the free flow of information necessary to hold government actors accountable.
DHS Reportedly Weighs Closing Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' Over Mounting Costs
Sources say the immigration detention center costs more than $1 million a day to run.
Federal Judge Delivers Due Process Win Against DOJ Registry Overreach
The Justice Department is permanently blocked from prosecuting Californians who fail to register when the state no longer requires it.
A Jury Approves Damages After 2 Texas Cops Snatched a Supposedly 'Abandoned' Girl From Her Home
The jurors concluded that the officers violated the Fourth and 14th amendments when they seized a 14-year-old without evidence that she was in danger.
Department of Homeland Security
Markwayne Mullin's History of Condoning Murder and Resisting Transparency Makes Him Ill-Suited To Run DHS
The Oklahoma senator, nominated to replace Kristi Noem, is blasé about the use of deadly force.
Is Judge Pauline Newman Entitled to Her Day in Court?
Her cert petition to the Supreme Court presents the important jurisdictional question of whether the Judicial Disability Act bars all judicial review of a decision by her fellow judges to remove her from active service.
Trump Thinks Any Judge Who Rules Against Him Is in League With the 'Radical Left'
The president's wildly inaccurate ideological labels are no more meaningful than his other ad hominem attacks on people who disagree with him.
Blind Refugee Found Dead 5 Days After Release From Border Patrol Custody in Buffalo
The Department of Homeland Security claims that the refugee was dropped off at a “warm, safe location” in Buffalo, New York. But he never made it inside.
The Trump Administration Made Habeas Corpus Great Again
More habeas corpus petitions were filed over the last year than in the past three administrations combined because of the administration's mass detention policy.
The ACLU, Long Leery of the Second Amendment, Joins the NRA in Urging SCOTUS To Uphold Pot Users' Gun Rights
"We see this as an important civil liberties issue," says an ACLU lawyer.
ICE Whistleblower Says Training Is 'Deficient, Defective, and Broken'
An attorney and former ICE training instructor testified before Congress that changes to the training program “can and will get people killed.”
Boston Man With Pending Green Card Application Held in ICE Custody for 5 Months
Seamus Culleton was detained despite being married to a U.S. citizen and having a work authorization permit. Now he’s asking the Irish government for help.
Fourth Circuit Rejects Facial Challenge to Two Trump Anti-DEI Executive Orders
"What plaintiffs are really asking us to do is read subtext into the Provision's text."
Once Again, a Federal Judge Orders ICE To Stop Unlawful Warrantless Arrests
Another judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to follow federal law, even as the Trump administration argues it has broad authority to conduct warrantless immigration arrests.
The NRA and NORML Unite To Oppose the Federal Gun Ban for Marijuana Users
Drug policy reformers and Second Amendment advocates team up in a case before the Supreme Court.
Federal Judge Slams ICE for Violating Nearly 100 Court Orders: 'ICE is Not a Law Unto Itself'
Judges across the country are fed up with the Trump administration's refusal to follow court orders requiring it to give bond hearings to detained immigrants.
Gregory Bovino's Legacy: Lies, Violence, and Unchecked Federal Power
Although Bovino is gone, immigration officials will continue to disregard rights and the rule of law under President Donald Trump.
Leaked ICE Memo Claims Agents Can Enter Homes Without Judicial Warrants
Under this understanding of the Fourth Amendment, an attorney at the Institute for Justice says, “there is little left of the rights of Americans to be secure in their houses.”
ICE Turns Lawyers Away at Minneapolis Detention Facility
As arrests surge under “Operation Metro Surge,” attorneys say the Trump administration is again denying detainees meaningful access to counsel.
Lawsuit Alleges New York Holds Juveniles in Solitary Cells Without Toilets
"Youth must ask to be released from their cells to use the bathroom or be forced to use garbage pails, water bottles, food containers, or buckets to relieve themselves," the lawsuit says.
Federal Agents Used a Battering Ram to Enter a Minneapolis Home Without Valid Warrant, Video Shows
“Any American should be terrified by…such an egregious violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said the arrestee’s attorney.
The DOJ Thinks Cocaine Couriers Are Not Worth Prosecuting. Trump Thinks They Deserve To Die.
Even as the president blows up drug boats, the government routinely declines to pursue charges against smugglers nabbed by the Coast Guard.
3 Areas Where the Courts Pushed Back Against Trump's Attempts To Avoid Judicial Review in 2025
The president asserted broad powers to deport people, impose tariffs, and deploy the National Guard based on his own unilateral determinations.
