Criminal Justice
Teen Found Guilty of Manslaughter for Texting Suicidal Boyfriend
The law should not treat words as violence.
Student Agreed to Orgy, But Later Called It Sexual Assault, Lawsuit Claims
Judge says that University of California, Santa Barbara, may have denied accused male student due process
NYPD Claims It's the Most Transparent Police Department in the World
In case you needed a good laugh today.
White House Makes It Official: It Wants to Keep Snooping on Americans
Trump and group of GOP senators don't want us to have greater privacy protections from unwarranted domestic surveillance.
Colorado's Tough New Forfeiture Law Provides Real Police Oversight, Transparency
Governor signs bill requiring police to report seizures and making it harder for cops to bypass state rules.
Poor Neighborhoods Hit Hardest by Asset Forfeiture in Chicago, Data Shows
Here's a map of 23,000 times over the past five years that police in Cook County seized property and cash.
The Power of the Prosecutor
Popehat's Ken White and author John Pfaff on the need for reform.
Bail Reformers Seek to Keep the Poor from Being Stuck Behind Bars
Legislation tries to end lack of money as an excuse for keeping non-dangerous people in cells until trial.
Cops Have Lost Control of Their Sex-Trafficking Panic, and It's Beautiful
Even the police can't control human-trafficking hysteria anymore, and it could backfire for them.
Trump May Commit a Felony to Cover Up Nonexistent Crimes
The president's implausible and gratuitous contradiction of Comey could be a crime if he repeats it to federal investigators.
Congress Wants to Let Cops Wiretap Sex Workers, the CDC Study Them, and Homeland Security Screen Them
A batch of frightening new bills take aim at all sorts of civil liberties under the guise of stopping sexual exploitation.
Rand Paul on Blocking Indefinite Detention and Saudi Arms Sales
In an interview, the Kentucky senator laments that "there's very little of this attorney general, this Department of Justice, doing anything favorable towards criminal justice or towards civil liberties."
Students Harassed in Futile Schoolwide Drug Raid File Civil Rights Lawsuit
The suit accuses officers of violating the teens' Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.
Man Free After Serving 25 Years for Murder Linked to Switched Bullets
The Detroit Crime Lab, shut down in 2008 for negligence, switched test bullets with autopsy bullets in order to convict Desmond Ricks.
What the Hell Was John McCain Trying to Say When He Questioned Comey?
In comparing Trump and Clinton, the senator apparently meant to highlight the distinction between impropriety and criminality.
Prison Unions Punish California Taxpayers
Costs are rising even as the prison population gets smaller.
Jeff Sessions Says Social Media, Encrypted Apps Hamper War on 'Modern Slavery'
These are the tools of pornographers, "sextortionists," and human traffickers, Sessions told a police conference this week.
Cop Breaks 17-Year-Old Girl's Jaw at Library, Lawsuit Alleges
The cop fell on the girl while trying to remove her from the library. He was suspended without pay for 40 hours.
Meet the Texas Lawmaker Fighting Trump on Civil Asset Forfeiture
Konni Burton has emerged as the state's fiercest opponent of civil asset forfeiture.
'Immigrants Are Responsible for Substantial Economic Growth'
New MassTLC study richly documents how newcomers grow the economy, cause less crime than natives, and do high-tech jobs that Americans won't do.
Philly Family Sues City Over Fatal Police Shooting
Don't trust government to investigate its own abuses.
SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Significant 4th Amendment Case on Warrantless Cell Phone Location Searches
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in Carpenter v. U.S. next term.
Child Molesters Face Shorter Sentences Than Child Porn Viewers. That's Wrong.
Understanding why the folks who look at kiddie porn often get longer sentences than the people who molest children in real life.
GOP Maps Out New Ways to Throw People in Federal Prison
Senators drafting massive combination bill with "Kate's Law" and "Back the Blue" mandatory minimum sentences that are expensive, unneeded.
SCOTUS Rejects Deportation of Immigrant Who Had Sex With His 16-Year-Old Girlfriend When He Was 20
The decision highlights the importance of drawing distinctions among "sex crimes."
'Operation Big Bad John' Used 75 Cops, Six Federal Agencies to Catch 13 Sex Buyers
Naturally, they're portraying it as a success.
House Overwhelmingly Supports Bill Subjecting Teen Sexters to 15 Years in Federal Prison
The bill was requested by the Department of Justice after federal prosecutors bungled a child exploitation case.
Police Union Appeals Firing of Cop Who Killed Tamir Rice
The officer was terminated for lying on his job application two years after killing the 12-year-old Rice.
Court to Grandma: You Shouldn't Lose Your House Just Because Your Dumb Son Sold Some Weed There
A 72-year-old grandma's house was seized by police over $140 of pot. Not so fast, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court says.
Supreme Court Rules 8-0 for Police in Major Fourth Amendment Case
SCOTUS rejects "provocation doctrine," says illegal police search must be viewed separately from subsequent police use of force.
Federal Prosecutors Say They Never See Low-Level Drug Offenders
Defending the DOJ's new, harsher charging policy, assistant U.S. attorneys say they only prosecute high-level offenders.
School Cop Tries to Arrest Teenage Girl for Violating the Dress Code
"You either come with me to the control room to change your shirt or we will arrest you."
San Diego D.A. Files Charges Against Marijuana Entrepreneur 16 Months After Seizing His Money
"I can't help but think this is vindictive prosecution."
Alaska Cops Fight for the Right to Sexually Exploit Prostitution Suspects
New laws are under debate, but the practice is more common than you think.
South Dakota Jury Acquits Tribal Cannabis Consultant of All Charges
The verdict is a rebuke to an attorney general who helped doom plans for a marijuana resort on an Indian reservation.
We All Scream for the Ice Cream Man's Head
The idea that ice cream men cruise around looking for victims is simply an urban myth.
This Florida Prosecutor Campaigned on Reform and Fairness. Now She's Ratcheting Up the Drug War.
First degree murder charges for man who sold drug that led to overdose death.
County Spends $58 Million on a Jail, Never Uses It, Sells it for $10 Million
The Oregon jail has sat empty since it opened in 2004.