Death and the Shadow Docket
The Supreme Court's efforts to shift procedures in death penalty litigation.
Criminal Justice
Alabama Cops Raided Their House, Seized Their Cash, and Ruined Their Lives Over $50 of Marijuana
Greg and Teresa Almond lost their house after a financially devastating drug raid involving civil asset forfeiture.
Punishing Assange Isn't Worth Killing a Free Press: Reason Roundup
Plus: Christians and bureaucrats versus Tarot in Virginia, and Democratic candidates on restoring voting rights to prisoners
He Was Tased, Arrested and Totally Innocent. Now He's Suing.
The Chattanooga Police Department is at the center of another excessive force lawsuit.
U.S. Prisoners Have Lost a Combined 20,000 Years of Life to False Convictions
Annual exoneration report shows growth in amount of time served and increasing levels of official misconduct.
Supreme Court Hears Case of Man Tried Six Times for Same Crime
The justices are considering if the prosecutor was racially biased in keeping African-Americans off the jury.
Multiple Sex-Trafficking Charges Against Allison Mack to be Dropped As Actress Pleads to Extortion
Plus: "content moderation laws are...not about punishing tech companies" and union fees have taken an astonishing hit.
Police Sicced a Dog on a Surrendering Man. Will the Supreme Court Review the Doctrine That Gave Them Immunity?
The ACLU wants the Supreme Court to revisit the notorious qualified immunity doctrine.
Controversial Arizona Prosecutor Juan Martinez May Finally Get a Taste of Justice
Martinez faces allegations of courtroom shenanigans, leaking confidential information, and sexual harassment.
Testimony on Asset Forfeiture Before the Arkansas State Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights
My testimony addressed the general problem of asset forfeiture, the potential impact of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Timbs v. Indiana, and Arkansas' recent reform law.
Brave Cops Pose With Drugs, 'Paraphernalia,' and a Single Confiscated $2 Bill
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Loudoun County deputies brag about a drug bust, get dragged, and likely don't learn any lessons.
Texas Inmate With a Wool Allergy Has Spent 10 Years Trying To Get a New Blanket
He's now representing himself in a lawsuit.
In the Space of One Minute, Joe Biden Defends the Death Penalty for Drug Dealers, Asset Forfeiture, and Mandatory Minimums
This 1991 Senate floor speech shows Biden's central role in crafting disastrous crime policies.
Manhattan D.A. Spent $250K in Asset Forfeiture Funds on Fine Dining and Luxurious Travel
The expenses included five-star Parisian hotels and sumptuous dinners.
Texas Would Rather Ban All Chaplains from Execution Chambers Than Placate One Buddhist Inmate in His Final Moments
Equal treatment under the law can mean everyone is treated equally poorly
New Jersey Is Keeping More and More People Out of Jail, and That's Great
New Jersey is detaining almost half as many people pretrial, and the state is not seeing a big crime wave.
Florida Brands Petty Thieves as Lifelong Felons, But That Might Change
Florida's $300 felony theft threshold turns petty crimes into prison time. That might change soon.
Florida Cases Restoke Chinese Conspiracy Fears
Yujing Zhang, Cindy Yang, and prostitution busts at Chinese spas have planted the seeds for new conspiratorial corruption narratives to bloom.
Gravity Knives, Bump Stocks, and Lawless Law Enforcement
New York cops and the president arbitrarily turn legal products into contraband.
Waco Biker Prosecutions Over After Nearly Four Years; All Remaining Charges Dropped
District Attorney admits "we are not able to prosecute any of those cases and reach our burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt."
ACLU Challenges Laws Criminalizing Panhandling
The civil rights group argues that such laws infringe on free speech.
Georgia Lawmakers Have Introduced a Bill to End the Death Penalty
The bill was introduced by Republicans and co-sponsored by Democrats.
Supreme Court Turns Away Georgia Cash Bail Challenge
Justices leave intact a ruling allowing detention for 48 hours of those who cannot immediately pay for their release.
Big Pretrial Justice Reforms Included in New York's Budget
Better evidence sharing and a dramatic drop in cash bail demands will help defendants challenge charges.
Arizona Parents Who Defied Doctor's Orders to Bring Sick 2-Year-Old to the Hospital Now Face Child Abuse Charges
Cops release edited video of the encounter.
Virginia May Reinstate Licenses for Drivers with Unpaid Court Fees
Gov. Ralph Northam pushes for reform.
Did We Overestimate the Benefits of Police Body Cameras?
A review of 70 studies shows only limited benefits.
Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
It wasn't about what was fair, it wasn't about what was honest, it was about winning.
Brett Kavanaugh Explains Why He Voted to Grant Buddhist Inmate's Stay of Execution
The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 last night to grant Patrick Murphy's petition for a stay.
Supreme Court Stays Execution in Death Penalty/Religious Liberty Case
The facts of this case are very similar to those of Dunn v. Ray, a recent ruling in which the Justice let the execution proceed, and thereby attracted a firestorm of criticism.
Futuristic Tech-Driven Policing Will Only Be as Good as the Cops Doing It
One doesn't need a predictive-policing program to realize that police officers who have been convicted of serious crimes ought not to be trusted with a badge.
Kim Foxx, the State's Attorney Who Let Jussie Smollett Go, Has a Lot of Explaining to Do
"A case with the consequential effects of Mr. Smollett's should not be resolved without a finding of guilt or innocence."
Federal Judge Rules New York's Dumb 'Gravity Knife' Law Is Unconstitutionally Vague
Groups have complained for years that the laws allowed police and prosecutors to selectively charge people carrying common pocket knives.
This Man Didn't Kill Anyone. Texas Plans To Execute Him Tonight Anyway. (UPDATE: Supreme Court Blocks Execution)
Texas' law of parties is to blame.
FOSTA's First Test Targets Cloud Company Used by Backpage
Plus: a Robert Kraft/spa-sting update, Florida sex-buyer registry nixed, D.C. activist alleges entrapment, and more sex-work and sex-policy news.
Cooley Judicial Lecture: Respecting Local Control: State Law in the Federal System
Come hear Judge Joan Larsen give inaugural Cooley Judicial Lecture at Georgetown Law; See Cooley Book Prize awarded to Richard Fallon
The Southern Poverty Law Center Is Both a Terrible Place to Work and a Place That Does Terrible Work
Top executives are departing amidst reports of racial and sexual harassment.
Houston Narcs Implicated in Deadly Drug Raid Will Soon Be Collecting Pensions
The officer accused of falsifying the no-knock warrant for the home invasion that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas retired last Friday.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Police Superintendent Still Think Jussie Smollett Is Guilty—and Are Furious He's Going Free
"Where is the accountability in the system?"
Prosecutors Drop All Charges Against Jussie Smollett
The FBI is still investigating, however.
