Criminal Justice
When a 'Controlled Buy' Turns Into a Daytime Parking Lot Shootout
A drug bust gone wrong in a Pittsburgh suburb leaves the suspect dead, an agent injured, and kids and shoppers terrified.
James Alan Fox: There Is No Evidence of an 'Epidemic of Mass Shootings'
The nation's leading scholar of mass shootings explains how media coverage of horrific events such as El Paso and Dayton stoke unwarranted fear and anxiety.
Man Fights City Hall for Ability To Keep 'Emotional Support' Pigs
Larry Johnson's pet pigs have run afoul of Minneapolis' ban on city swine.
If You're Near the Scene of a Crime, Authorities Can Demand That Google Hand Over Your Data
Quiet fishing expeditions are being used to sort through potential suspects.
FBI Rebrands National Sex Sting as 'Operation Independence Day'
The operation is still arresting sex workers and calling it a rescue mission.
Court Sides With Prison Guards Who Forced Female Inmates To Expose Genitals During Training Exercise
The search raised Fourth Amendment concerns.
A Cop Tied to KKK Memorabilia May Have a Fatal Shooting Reviewed
Prosecutors are looking into a framed KKK document found at a house belonging to Charles Anderson, a Michigan police officer of over 20 years.
Cops Still Love Their Armored Vehicles
Remember concerns about militarized policing? It’s still a big threat to civil liberties and to relations between Americans and law enforcement.
Should You Boycott Your $42 SoulCycle Bike Ride To Stick It to Trump?
The end of political privacy and the politicization of everything
Attorney General Barr Does Not Approve of Your Kinder, Gentler Elected District Attorneys
In a speech to police, Barr called for citizens to shut up and do what officers tell them to.
Can Excluding Someone from a Town Be a Proper Remedy in a Libel/Harassment Case?
Yes, said the New Hampshire Supreme Court; is that right?
Deprivation of Voting Rights as a Collateral Consequence of a Felony Conviction
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is right to be concerned about the excessive number of collateral consequences attending a felony conviction, but its implicit suggestion that the deprivation of voting rights is the one most urgently in need of reform is … well … quirky at best.
No Probable Cause Required for Cops To Access User Data From Popular Apps
Only three states require police to obtain a warrant before requesting private user data from companies.
Lawsuit: SWAT Team Shot 12-Year-Old in Kneecap During Raid
The Illinois boy now suffers from severe PTSD and will walk with a limp for the rest of his life, the lawsuit says.
Aaron Sandusky Has Spent 7 Years in Prison for Selling Medical Marijuana
Obama denied him clemency. Will Trump set him free?
Trump Mulls Commutation for Disgraced Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
While the president's mercy might be self-serving, it's not necessarily wrong.
Acts of Politically Motivated Violence Are Already Illegal. Making 'Domestic Terrorism' a Federal Crime Won't Help
A domestic terrorism law is bound to threaten liberty more than it hampers terrorists.
No Jail Time for 79-Year-Old Woman Who Fed Stray Cats
But Nancy Segula will still need to rein in her "compassion for cats."
Police Shot Her Boyfriend During a Robbery. She Was Charged With His Murder.
The felony murder rule allows police to charge someone with a killing if they were an accomplice in a related crime.
Ashton Kutcher Helped Promote a Bogus Sex Trafficking Claim. Will We Ever Shake It?
The claim that 100,000 to 300,000 underage people were being sex trafficked in the United States was used in effort to destroy Backpage.com's founders.
A Georgia Cop was Fired for Stalking and Harassing Women
Former Sergeant Scott Martin is a certified creep.
Selling Drugs to Sex Workers Could Be Human Trafficking Under the Senate's New 'PROTECT Act'
The bipartisan bill says "using drugs or illegal substances to cause a person to engage in a commercial sex act" or in any kind of labor counts as human trafficking.
Trump Says Mental Illness 'Pulls the Trigger' in Mass Shootings
Plus: Monday market swings spark freakout, Hong Kong "now a revolution," and more...
Body Camera Footage Shows Officer Killing Woman While Firing at Nonthreatening Dog
The Department of Justice calls puppycide an epidemic.
No, Donald Trump: Not Even Mass Shootings and Hate Crimes Justify the Death Penalty
Politicians never hesitate to exploit a tragedy.
A 79-Year-Old Woman Receives a Jail Sentence for Feeding Stray Cats
"I'm an animal lover, and I feel guilty that they're wandering around out there and they have nothing to eat."
After El Paso and Dayton Shootings, Threatened Crackdowns on Guns, Immigrants, and Internet Speech
Plus: the trouble with "national conservatism," the decline of the mortgage interest deduction, and more...
Judge Recommends Firing Cop Who Choked Eric Garner
"I can't breathe" became a rallying cry for activists opposing police brutality.
Police Officer Shoots at Dog During Welfare Check, Kills Woman Instead
From puppycide to homicide
Cory Booker's Slam Against Joe Biden's Criminal Justice Record Shoveled Some More Dirt on the Old Lock 'Em Up Consensus
The climate of opinion has changed so dramatically that Democrats are politically obliged to support reform.
Carleton College Suspended a Student for Drunken Sex. He Appealed. Then They Expelled Him.
His lawsuit claims the campus's procedures made a mockery of due process.
An $80 Fine for a Busted Taillight Ends With a Woman Being Tased
"I don't think that I deserve to pay $80 for something that is fixable — and I can fix it, if that's all you want me to do."
Biden Gets Pummeled for Obama's Ugly Immigration Record
Plus: Tulsi Gabbard is most searched candidate, Kirsten Gillibrand attacks Biden's record on women, and more...
Cory Booker Is Right: Joe Biden's Criminal Justice Record 'Destroyed Lives'
"There are people right now in prison for life for drug offenses because you stood up and used that tough-on-crime phony rhetoric."
The Debate Hecklers Were Right; the Officer Who Killed Eric Garner Should Be Punished
Chanters demand NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo's firing.
Tulsi Gabbard Calls Kamala Harris a Drug Warrior and Dirty Prosecutor. She's Right.
"The bottom line is, when you were in a position to make a difference and an impact in these people's lives, you did not."
A New Law Would Criminalize Throwing Water on NYPD Officers
It's not politicians' fault that citizens don't respect them.
A Dodgeball Game in Michigan Ends in Assault Charges for 10-Year-Old
A school criminalizes a playground injury.
Why Did New York Have to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession Twice?
The new law eliminates a loophole that allowed police to continue arresting people for something that was not supposed to be a crime anymore.
New York Dad Should Not Face Homicide Charges for Accidentally Killing Twin 1-Year-Olds in a Hot Car
Laws criminalizing the act of leaving children in cars are misguided.
