Police Agree To Pay Woman $750,000 After Raiding Her House and Killing Her Dog Over an Unpaid Gas Bill
The case highlights the dangers of using SWAT teams for anything and everything.
Criminal Justice
A Louisiana Cop Is Out of Prison Early After Fatally Shooting a 6-Year-Old
Two police officers fired 18 bullets into a car even after the driver put his hands in the air.
Defense Department Computer Network Among Top Sharers of Child Pornography
Plus: Florida legalizes vegetable gardens, Facebook bans anti-voting ads, and more...
Pennsylvania Passes Clean Slate Act, Will Seal More Than 30 Million Criminal Records
The law will reopen critical channels to employment and housing that might otherwise be closed.
New Law Stops IRS From Stealing People's Money Simply Because It Deems Their Bank Deposits Suspiciously Small
A provision of the Taxpayer First Act requires evidence of other illegal activity for seizures based on "structuring" and mandates prompt hearings.
California Police Agencies Were Supposed To Make Misconduct Records Public. Why Isn't It Happening?
Media outlets are seeing foot-dragging, destroyed records, and demands for big money for compliance.
Drunk Driving, Blood Draws, and the Fourth Amendment After Mitchell v. Wisconsin
The Supreme Court deals with the unconscious driver.
The FBI Hopes These Cute Puppies Will Distract You From Unconstitutional Civil Asset Forfeitures
Surrender the Fifth Amendment or the dog dies.
Questioning the Political Question Doctrine
The Supreme Court has used this doctrine for many years, including in the recent gerrymandering decision. But it still doesn't actually make any sense.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Citations to nowhere, satanic cardigans, and untested rape kits.
Can Federal Partisan Gerrymandering Claims be Brought in State Court?
A strange ambiguity about yesterday's decision in Rucho v. Common Cause
Enumerated Powers and the Census Case
The Supreme Court was right to rule that the administration's rationale for adding a question about citizenship to the Census was bogus. But it would have done better to rule that inclusion of the question was beyond the scope of the federal government's enumerated powers.
Facial Recognition Tech Straight Out of 'Robocop' Could Be a Real Threat to Civil Liberties
As governments and law enforcement agencies rush to incorporate facial recognition tech, California lawmakers have a chance to slam on the brakes.
The NYPD Hasn't Substantiated a Single Bias Complaint Against an Officer Since 2014
The NYPD is 100 percent bias-free, NYPD investigators claim.
Final Decisions of SCOTUS Term Produce an Overton Park for the Twenty-First Century
Chief Justice Roberts' irked both Left and Right with his Census decision - encapsulating what we saw the entire SCOTUS term.
A Pregnant Woman in Alabama Was Shot in the Stomach and Miscarried. Now, Alabama Cops Are Charging Her With Manslaughter.
What the hell is going on with this state?
Supreme Court Allows Warrantless Blood Draws of Unconscious Drivers
SCOTUS says it is constitutional for police to draw blood from unconscious drunk driving suspects.
NYPD Union Followed Bill de Blasio All the Way to the Dem Debate To Tell Him How Much They Hate Him
Bill de Blasio is running for president, and police unions are chasing him.
Gorsuch and Alito Fight Over Criminal Sentencing and the Right to Trial by Jury
Another day, another conflict between the Supreme Court’s Republican appointees in a criminal justice case.
Backers of a Federal Ban on 'Gun Silencers' Claim Only Murderers Use Them
The bill would turn law-abiding gun owners into felons for possessing a product that is almost never used in violent crimes.
Incensed by Warrantless Border Searches of Americans' Tech Devices? These Senators Have the Cure.
Ron Wyden and Rand Paul team up to stop Border Patrol from snooping in your stuff without good reason.
"(Un)Civil Denaturalization" in Print in NYU Law Review
Why the existing system violates due process.
Detroit Police Arrested a City-Commissioned Artist Because He Didn't Have a Permit
A city official even vouched for Sheefy McFly, but police arrested him for resisting.
U.S. Cops Are Facing a Recruitment Crisis. Will It Force Them to Change Their Ways?
Nationally, 66 percent of police departments report seeing declining numbers of applications.
Trump Says Rape Accuser E. Jean Carroll Isn't His Type
Plus: Migrant children removed from detention centers, wine comes before the Supreme Court, a sci-fi writer imagines a world without Section 230, and more
Colorado Supreme Court Upholds a Decision That Forced a Teenager to Register As a Sex Offender for Swapping Nude Selfies
That result "may strike some as unfair," the court says, but it's what state law required at the time.
Kavanaugh Accuses Gorsuch of Judicial Activism in Criminal Justice Case
“The Court usually reads statutes with a presumption of rationality and a presumption of constitutionality.”
The Kagan-Gorsuch Axis and Kavanaugh v. Gorsuch - Chapter III
An interesting set of line-ups in today's Supreme Court opinions
Is This Still the Stare Decisis Court?
The Roberts Court still overturns prior precedent at a lower rate than its post-War predecessors.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Spy networks, cyberattacks, and the price we pay for civilization.
When They See Us Is Compelling Storytelling, but Not All Rings True
A meticulous re-enactment of the misbegotten prosecution of the Central Park Five gets a lot right.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Curtis Flowers, Man Tried 6 Times for Same Crime
The high court ruled that prosecutor Doug Evans violated Flowers' constitutional rights when Evans sought to keep African-Americans off of the jury.
Cory Booker Proposes Thousands of Drug War Commutations If Elected President
Booker would move the process away from prosecutors and into the White House.
Of Crosses, Deference and Delegation
A day of relatively small opinions from SCOTUS suggests big doctrinal developments may be on the horizon
A Troubling Supreme Court Decision on Non-Delegation
Today's ruling in Gundy v. United States allows Congress to delegate to the executive broad power to create new criminal offenses. But there is hope the Court might reconsider Gundy in the future.
Lives Ruined for Petty Crimes
A new book explores how America's criminal justice system heaps debts on those who can't possibly pay.
