Criminal Justice
The Case Against Ross Ulbricht Was About Government Power
President Donald Trump's pardon of the Silk Road creator is a rare moment of reprieve in an era of relentless government expansion.
Sheriff Says 'Public Trust' in New Mexico Law Enforcement 'Is Completely Lost' Because of Police Corruption
"This is a gut punch," says Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen. "This is a kick to my balls and two black eyes, to be honest with you."
The Role Where Gene Hackman Was State Violence Personified
Hackman's performance as "Little Bill" Daggett in Unforgiven is an unflinching portrayal of how far the state will go to protect its corrupt monopoly on violence.
The Sad Quest for a Secret 'Epstein Client List'
The Trump administration’s spectacle rehashed information that journalists, lawyers, and victims had already unveiled.
Review: Rethinking the Stanford Prison Experiment
Did participants exhibit a natural inclination for cruelty, or were they just doing what they thought researchers wanted?
Should the Charges Against Mayor Adams Now Be Dismissed With Prejudice … Because of Prosecutorial Misconduct?
That's the powerful argument that Mayor Adams's lawyers are making, citing (among other grounds) the leaking of a resignation letter containing "the wildly inflammatory and false accusation that Mayor Adams and his counsel had, in essence, offered a quid to the Department of Justice in exchange for the quo of dismissal."
Colorado SWAT Team Raids Wrong Apartment, Locks Innocent Family in Police Car
The cops tried to cover up their mistake after they "terrorized" the family, according to a lawsuit.
Detroit Police Wrongly Arrested Woman After Facial Recognition Tech Misidentified Her as Shooting Culprit
This isn't the first time Detroit cops have arrested the wrong person after using facial recognition software.
Montana 'Abortion Trafficking' Bill Could Criminalize Crossing State Lines for an Abortion
Transporting "an unborn child" from Montana to another state "with the intent to obtain an abortion that is illegal" in Montana, or assisting anyone in doing so, would be illegal under House Bill 609.
Will Absorbing the ATF Into the FBI Rein in Each Agency's Abuses?
The ATF, charged with regulating firearms, has a history of abuse and incompetence.
Did Glossip and the Oklahoma Attorney General Collusively Conceal Evidence to Win Their U.S. Supreme Court Case?
Justice Thomas observes in his dissent that "the parties collusively excluded" evidence—which I presented to the Court for the victim's family—"in order to reach a predetermined outcome." And the Court majority offers no defense of this deceitful maneuver.
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.
D.C.'s U.S. Attorney Is a Menace to the First Amendment
Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin puts loyalty to Donald Trump ahead of loyalty to the Constitution.
Why the Internet Celebrated a Killer
Combine moral zealotry with increasingly blurred lines between political speech and violence long enough, and the outcome is predictable.
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.
Texas Cops Seized Photographs From a Museum and Launched Child Pornography Investigation
"It's shameful that government officials would use the criminal legal process to censor art and expression."
The Crime Victims' Rights Movement's Past, Present, and Future (Part III - the Future)
Efforts to expand and amplify victims' voices in criminal proceedings are justified and likely to continue into the future.
The Crime Victims' Rights Movement's Past, Present, and Future (Part II - the Present)
The modern crime victims' rights movement has been remarkably successful in inserting the victim's voice into criminal justice processes.
A State Cop Lionized for Nabbing Drunk Drivers Is Suspected of Taking Bribes To Let Them Off the Hook
New Mexico State Police Sgt. Toby LaFave, "the face of DWI enforcement," has been implicated in a corruption scandal that goes back decades and involves "many officers."
How Should the District Court Evaluate the Motion to Dismiss the Charges Against Mayor Adams?
Under existing Second Circuit caselaw, the district court will almost certainly need to approve the motion to dismiss. But existing Circuit law fails to take into account the Crime Victims Rights Act. And there may be a "victim" who rights are being ignored: New York City.
The Weak, Weird Case Against a Supposed 'Orgasm Cult'
Snakes. Magic. Orgasmic meditation. And a dubious federal case against the leaders of a supposed sex cult.
As Migrant Arrests and Deportations Increase, Remember You Have the Right To Record ICE
Law enforcement acts better when officers know the public is watching.
The Crime Victims' Rights Movement's Past, Present, and Future (Part I - the Past)
The victims' rights movement is rooted in America's long tradition of private prosecution, in which crime victims were able to initiate and pursue their own criminal prosecutions.
Local Station Finds Chicagoans Were on the Hook for $107.5 Million in Police Misconduct Lawsuits in 2024
Taxpayers will continue to be hurt twice by misconduct until individual police officers are held accountable.
Hawaii Can Auction Off Your Car Without Ever Convicting You
Civil forfeiture allows the government of Hawaii to take your property and sell it for profit without proving you did anything wrong.
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.
Sell Flavored Tobacco in Massachusetts, Go To Jail
Massachusetts outlawed flavored tobacco. Now, just as criminal justice groups warned, a vape shop owner is serving time.
Albuquerque's Ever-Expanding Police Corruption Scandal Goes Back Decades and Involves 'Many Officers'
In the latest guilty plea, a local defense attorney says he had been bribing cops to make DWI cases disappear "since at least the late 1990s."
North Dakota's 'Truth-in-Sentencing' Bill Could Cost More Than $250 Million
The bill would also create mandatory minimum jail sentences for fleeing the police.
Little Rock, Arkansas, Drops Intrusive, Ineffective ShotSpotter System
For all the money spent on it, the gunshot detection system has a spotty record at best.
Marc Fogel, Who Was Imprisoned in Russia for Having Medical Marijuana, Is Freed
Fogel's story closely mirrored that of Brittney Griner's. But he did not receive the same urgency from the Biden administration, even though he was arrested six months prior.
Corrupt Albuquerque Cops Had Friends in High Places, Including Internal Affairs
For a decade and a half, officers made DWI cases go away in exchange for bribes, relying on protection from senior officers implicated in the same racket.
5 of the Worst USAID Scandals in History
The agency's low points, from working with child sex abusers to enabling drug trafficking
This Judge Tried To Get Out of Jury Duty by Saying Everyone Appearing Before Him Is Guilty
"I know they are guilty," otherwise "they would not be in front of me," said town justice Richard Snyder, who resigned in December.
'Human Trafficking' Sting Yields 547 Arrests, but Only 1 for Human Trafficking
A(nother) look at how human trafficking panic gets made.
