Criminal Justice
Court to Cops: Shoot First and Think Later
SCOTUS encourages excessive force by shielding police from liability.
New Backpage Ruling Lays Bare Some of the Lies Undergirding FOSTA
The ruling allows a civil suit against Backpage to proceed for one of the case's three plaintiffs.
The Supreme Court's Continuing Immunity Crusade
A few thoughts on today's summary reversal in Kisela v. Hughes.
Sacramento Sheriff's Dept. SUV Knocks Down Police Abuse Protester, Then Drives Off
This is not how you rebuild those community ties.
Will Stephon Clark's Killing by Police Finally Force Open California Misconduct Investigations?
Lawmakers have tried to counter the powerful law enforcement lobby and failed.
A Wrongful Murder Conviction Cost Him Legal Residency Status. ICE Detains Him Anyway After Decades Imprisoned Unjustly.
A corrupt detective involved in 10 overturned convictions gives ICE an excuse to further harm an innocent man.
Texas Woman Gets 5 Years in Prison for the Crime of Not Realizing She Couldn't Vote
An obsession with election fraud leads to cruel punishments.
Adnan Syed from Serial Is Getting a New Trial. He's One of the Lucky Few.
A high-profile podcast gave his case national attention, but almost all inmates who claim innocence are trapped in obscurity behind bars.
The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
The (non-existent) "taint" in the evidence Mueller's team has been gathering.
New Mississippi Law Will Stop Courts from Jailing People Who Can't Pay Fines
Scaling back debtor's prisons in a state with one of the country's highest incarceration rates
The 2016 Chicago Homicide Spike - Further Explained
Some additional thoughts about how a 2015 ACLU consent decree with the Chicago Police Department contributed to the 2016 homicide spike--responding to tweets from Professor John Pfaff and to comments from the ACLU.
March for Our Lives Kids Don't Know Just How Safe Schools Are
Students say your right to own a gun conflicts with their right to feel secure.
The 2016 Chicago Homicide Spike - Explained
After an ACLU consent decree with the Chicago Police Department dramatically reduced the number of stop and frisks, homicides significantly increased as a result.
Does the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel Apply Prior to Indictment?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit concludes binding SCOTUS precedent says "no," but perhaps this view should he reconsidered.
Steven Pinker Wants Enlightenment Now!
Pope Francis is part of the problem, nuclear energy is part of the solution, and libertarians need to admit that not every regulation will turn us into Venezuela.
She Was Caught Shoplifting When She Was 12. Why Is There a Warrant Out for Her Arrest 25 Years Later?
The now working mother says the fine is bizarre, unfair.
Omnibus Bill Chips Away at Citizens' Abilities to Protect Data from Government Snoops Across the World
The CLOUD Act improves data sharing with governments by reducing oversight.
FOSTA Passes Senate, Making Prostitution Ads a Federal Crime Against Objections from DOJ and Trafficking Victims
The measure will "make it harder, not easier, to root out and prosecute sex traffickers," said Sen. Ron Wyden, one of only two senators to vote no on FOSTA.
Minneapolis Cop Finally Charged for Killing Unarmed Woman Who Merely Surprised Him Last Summer
County attorney blames uncooperative police for the delay.
Los Angeles Reverses Course on Police Body Camera Secrecy
A new plan would release footage in cases of officer-involved shootings and use of force.
In Oklahoma, Inmates Could Be Gassed to Death by a Substance Unfit to Kill Pets
The American Veterinary Medical Association states that nitrogen may be "distressing" for any animal other than birds.
The Justice Department Tries to Hammer Out What to Reveal from Carter Page's Surveillance Orders
Judge allows until summer for an unprecedented disclosure of warrant info from one of our most secretive courts.
Live Debate 3/19 in NYC: Is There a Rape Culture on College Campuses?
On Monday, March 19 in New York, Cathy Young and Michael Kimmel will debate whether campuses are unsafe for women. Buy tickets today or watch live!
Florida May Be About to Launch the Most Ambitious Criminal Justice Transparency Project in the U.S.
"This may seem like a great, obvious idea, but no one else has done this."
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel Refuses to Explain His Office's Failures to Congress
He "let the American people down and also the citizens of Florida," according to Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Kansas Registers Drug Offenders as Well as Sex Offenders
But a new bill could change that.
Discovery of Police Corruption Freed Dozens of Imprisoned Americans in 2017
Government misconduct a big driver of exonerations last year.
Mississippi Sheriff's Department Gets Sued, ACLU Finds a Long 'White Pride' Email
New data show roadblocks in the county occur twice as often in black neighborhoods as white ones.
ACLU Says Nebraska May Have Illegally Imported Execution Drugs
The ACLU asks the DEA to investigate whether the state lied on its applications to get fentanyl for upcoming executions.
Government Wants Our Trust, but Where's the Accountability?
The foul ups by the Broward County Sheriff's Office don't inspire confidence.
Report: Imprisoning Drug Users Doesn't Stop Drug Use or Prevent Overdoses
Somebody tell the president.
When Fixing the Problem Makes It Worse
Our best hope is that commercial and cultural change will overcome the tendency to force top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions onto complicated problems.
Trooper Stops Driver Twice Within 3 Hours, Gropes Her for No Apparent Reason
The cop's boss says he did nothing wrong; the local D.A. disagrees.
The Cato Institute's New Civil Rights/Police Accountability Initiative
Canvassing the legal problems and practical effects of qualified immunity from constitutional lawsuits
Trump, Slayer of Pushers
If drug dealers have blood on their hands, so do drug warriors.
What Forfeiture Reforms? New Hampshire Police Bypass State Law, Keep Taking People's Stuff
The Department of Justice's loophole lets officials seize property without having to get a conviction.
319 NYPD Officers Committed Fireable Offenses But Kept Their Jobs
Cops got probation even after internal tribunal found them guilty of excessive force, sexual harassment, and ticket-fixing
Sonia Sotomayor Faults SCOTUS for Failing to Protect Right to Effective Counsel in Death Row Case
Justice Sotomayor dissents from the denial of certiorari in Wessinger v. Vannoy.
