This Suicidal, Gasoline-Drenched Man Burned to Death After Cops Tased Him. A Federal Court Says That's Reasonable Force.
"In what legal universe is it not even plausibly unreasonable to knowingly immolate someone?" asks dissenting judge
Criminal Justice
Charging Bit Players With Drug-Induced Homicide Is Unjust and Potentially Deadly
A new investigation of Pennsylvania prosecutions confirms that the defendants are often friends or low-level dealers.
Feeding the Homeless Should Not Be a Crime
A North Carolina city council member wants to make feeding homeless people a misdemeanor.
When Kidnappings Were All the Rage
With panic in the air, federal law enforcement seized the moment.
Derek Chauvin Receives a 22.5-Year Sentence for Killing George Floyd
A jury convicted the former Minneapolis police officer of murder and manslaughter in April, nearly a year after Floyd's death set off nationwide protests.
Appeals Court Rules Aerial Police Tracking of Citizens Violates Fourth Amendment
Baltimore kept tabs on citizens' movement across 90 percent of the city, without a warrant, to investigate crimes.
Republicans Urged To 'Lean Into' Critical Race Theory Culture War
Plus: UFOs, young people and socialism, and more...
Want Better Policing? Make It Easier To Fire Bad Cops.
Realtors, contractors, and insurance agents who engage in bad behavior can be stripped of their licenses. Police officers, on the other hand, rarely get fired.
Cops Say Encryption Hinders Investigations. These Documents Say Otherwise.
Law enforcers have plenty of tools; they just want to paw through our data without effort or expense.
Biden's Gun Control Plans Won't Do Much To Address Surging Homicides
Cracking down on "rogue gun dealers" and enforcing background checks won't stop criminals from arming themselves.
This Cop Conducted 3 Warrantless Searches in Under 3 Years. He Gets To Keep His Job.
Once again, it shows just how hard it is to hold bad officers accountable.
Biden Tells States To Use COVID-19 Relief Funds To Hire Cops
Plus: Supreme Court rules for ranty cheerleader and against intrusive unions, RIP John McAfee, and more...
Man Arrested for Public Signs Wins Settlement From Sheriff's Office and Spurs Reform
Holding a sign in a public park should not cause an arrest.
Bill Barr Gets Away With Busting Heads in Lafayette Square Because He's a Fed
"In lower courts' view, [a] federal badge now equals absolute immunity."
SCOTUS Refuses 'To Print a New Permission Slip for Entering the Home Without a Warrant'
Fourth Amendment advocates win big in Lange v. California.
Judge Rejects New York City's Ban on Cops Compressing Suspects' Diaphragms
Plus: Trans girl sports ban vetoed, Connecticut legalizes marijuana, and more...
Biden Administration Endorses Legislation to End Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
The EQUAL Act would finally end one of the worst legacies of the 1980s drug war and clean up one of the biggest stains on Joe Biden's record.
NYC Mayoral Frontrunner Eric Adams Talks Conspiratorial Nonsense About 'Voter Suppression'
The ex-cop's closing pitch is filled with crazy accusations about "disenfranchis[ing] Black voters."
New York City's Mayoral Reality Check
Gotham voters are trending toward candidates who acknowledge that violent crime is up, and that school closures were terrible.
Gov. Greg Abbott Will Reportedly Separate Families and Throw Some Undocumented Migrants in Prison
In 2018, the Republican said family separations were "tragic and heart-rending."
Biden's Gun Schemes Illustrate the Foolishness of Firearms Regulations
Rules range from absurd to appalling without respect for civil liberties or basic logic.
Autopsy of a Crime Lab
The book argues that judges should take their responsibility as gatekeepers of scientific and technical evidence more seriously.
Cops Punched a Man Hanging From a Window and Tased Him After He Fell. They Got Qualified Immunity.
But the appeals court wasn't having it.
Connecticut Legislature Passes Bill To Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Pending the governor's expected signature, Connecticut will become the 19th state—and the fifth this year—to legalize recreational weed.
No More Traffic Cops
Returning traffic enforcement and criminal law enforcement to their proper spheres could put both police and drivers at ease.
D.C. Council's Ban on Flavored Tobacco Products Is a License for More Over-Policing of Minorities
Legislators cannot have it both ways.
Don't Be Surprised When Stupid Laws Are Maintained With Force
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids railed against cops for enforcing the same kind of anti-vaping rule they help pass.
Congress Weighs a Moratorium on Facial Recognition and Biometric Surveillance Technologies
And it's not a moment too soon.
Biden Campaigned on Ending the Death Penalty. His Justice Department Wants To Execute the Boston Marathon Bomber Anyway.
A new brief asks the Supreme Court to reinstate Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence.
National Security Agency Leaker Reality Winner Freed from Prison Early
She was sentenced to more than five years for revealing how Russia tried to hack the 2016 election.
Senate Bill Would Ban Judges from Using Acquitted Conduct at Sentencing
The little-known but outrageous practice allows federal judges enhance defendants' sentence based on conduct a jury acquitted them of.
Cops Now Need a Warrant for 23andMe and AncestryDNA Searches in Maryland and Montana
Two states have passed laws requiring court approval before the cops can use genetic genealogy services to track down a suspect.
Cops Tased and Beat Teens While Enforcing a Local Vaping Ban
Dumb laws lead to police brutality.
The $2 Drug Test Keeping Inmates in Solitary
Reason tried out the field test kits used to test for drugs in prison. They were unreliable and confusing.
The FBI Returned This Innocent Couple's Safe Deposit Box. It Refuses To Give Back Many Others—and Is Trying To Seize $85 Million in Cash.
"It makes me feel like the government is preying on the vulnerable and the weak to line their own pockets."
Study on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Finds 'Conclusions Were Often Erroneous'
Bloodstain pattern analysis is one of several forensic techniques that has come under scrutiny in recent years for its lack of established error rates.
When Is a Civil Forfeiture Based on Drug Offenses Excessive? Always.
The question of proportionality assumes that punishment is appropriate for peaceful conduct that violates no one's rights.
