Criminal Law
He Served His Time for Sex Offenses He Committed as a Teen. He's Still Locked Up With No Release Date.
Justin Sanchez is one of more than 6,000 Americans indefinitely detained in a system that wastes money and doesn't make us safer.
NBA Betting Scandal Shows How Legalized Gambling Actually Helps Root Out Corruption
FBI Director Kash Patel called it “the insider trading saga for the NBA,” with Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier among those charged.
James Comey Indicted in a Case Prosecutors Don't Seem Excited About
There is ample evidence to suspect prosecutors are just doing President Trump's dirty work rather than following the facts of the case.
My New Boston Globe Article Making Case for Abolishing ICE and Giving the Money to State and Local Police
It builds on an earlier piece in The Hill
Trump's Unconstitutional Plan to Penalize States that Allow Cashless Bail
His executive order directs the Justice Department to deny federal funds to jurisdictions that use cashless bail for suspects for many types of crimes. The plan is another assault on federalism and separation of powers.
"After a Ten-Minute Bench Trial Held in Her Absence" …
defendant "was found guilty of criminal mischief and domestic violence"—yet the prosecution "presented no evidence that [she] damaged or destroyed the property of another—an essential element of criminal mischief, which was also the predicate offense for the domestic violence charge."
Judge Dismisses Case Against Trans Woman Who Tried To Challenge Florida's Bathroom Law
Marcy Rheintgen was the first person to be arrested for trying to challenge Florida's bathroom bill. The case against her has been tossed out.
More Evidence that Immigrants - Including Illegal Ones - Have Much Lower Crime Rates than Natives
A new Cato Institute study further refutes claims that illegal migration is somehow causing a crime wave.
Justices Alito and Gorsuch Would Like to Reconsider Crawford
Two decisions respecting a denial of certiorari suggest the Court should reconstruct Confrontation Clause jurisprudence.
Rachel Barkow: Did Trump and Biden Turn Pardons Into a Corrupt Joke?
Presidential pardons have become a tool of favoritism and politics.
A Small Minnesota County Pumps Out 40 Percent of the State's Drug-Free Zone Sentences
Local news reports detail how Polk County, Minnesota, charges drivers and petty offenders with drug-free zone violations like no other county in the state.
Legal Education Has Lost Its Way
Millions of Americans are denied legal representation, and law schools are churning out lawyers who can’t meet society’s needs. It’s time for a two-track system.
COVID-19 Lockdowns Unleashed a Wave of Murder
Researchers find that pandemic policies sparked a wave of violent crime.
Amanda Knox Tells Her Own Story
"Our criminal justice system relies upon our own ignorance and the fact that we don't know what our rights are."
North Carolina Goes Drug War on Prostitution
Plus: Idaho's "abortion trafficking" law can mostly take effect; updates on state age verification suits; the threat the Florida and Texas social media laws pose to X
Joe Biden Rarely Issues Pardons but Made an Exception for His Son
Biden continues a modern trend of presidents who are stingy with the pardon pen.
Review: Neil Gorsuch Says There Are Too Many Laws
No one knows how many federal crimes there are, the Supreme Court justice notes in Over Ruled.
Should California Vote To Roll Back Criminal Justice Reforms?
Conservatives blame Proposition 47 (2014) for higher rates of shoplifting in the state, but the real story is more complicated.
Georgia A.G. Drops Frivolous Money Laundering Charges Against Cop City Bail Fund
The three defendants remain under indictment for racketeering, along with 58 others.
Their Juvenile Records Were Supposed To Be Sealed. The NYPD Accessed Them Anyway.
According to a new lawsuit, NYPD officers have been illegally accessing sealed juvenile arrest records.
Massachusetts Ex-Cop Charged With Strangling Pregnant Woman and Staging Her Death as a Suicide
Matthew Farwell allegedly murdered a 23-year-old woman who was pregnant with his child. Their relationship is said to have began when she was 15. He was 27.
Special Counsel Jack Smith Files Revised Trump Indictment in Election Subversion Case
The revised indicment is intended to address the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling in Trump v. United States.
The Case Against Alec Baldwin Is Not a Slam Dunk
New Mexico law requires quite a high standard for proving criminal negligence.
Rapper B.G. Ordered To Turn Over New Song Lyrics to the Feds
Supervised release shouldn't require former inmates to give up their First Amendment rights.
The Stop Comstock Act Doesn't Go Far Enough
Upcoming legislation would repeal parts of the 1873 law that could be used to target abortion, but the Comstock Act's reach is much more broad than that.
Campus Anti-Israel Protests and the Ethics of Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is sometimes justified. But current law-breaking by anti-Israel protestors on college campuses doesn't come close to meeting the requisite moral standards.
This Elderly Man Was Arrested After Shooting a Burglar in Self-Defense—for Carrying the Gun Without a License
Vincent Yakaitis is unfortunately not the first such defendant. He will also not be the last.
She Only Served 10 Months Behind Bars. Florida Still Slapped Her With A $127,000 Bill.
Under Florida's "pay-to-stay" law, inmates are charged $50 for every day of their sentence—including time they never spent incarcerated.
U.S. Sentencing Commission Restricts Federal Judges' Ability To Use Acquitted Conduct at Sentencing
The little-known but outrageous practice allowed judges to enhance defendants' sentences using conduct a jury acquitted them of.
Texas Takes Intellectually Disabled Inmate Off Death Row
Randall Mays, who has an IQ of 63, was resentenced to life without parole.
Nathan Wade Resigns From Trump Prosecution in Georgia
Neither Wade's letter of resignation, nor District Attorney Fani Willis' letter accepting his resignation, grapple with what a complete unforced error their relationship was.
Florida Lawmakers Vote To Raise Stripping Age to 21
Employing an 18- to 20-year-old at an adult venue could mean 15 years in prison, even if the young person used a fake ID.
Prosecutor Claims Official Forfeited Office by Going Nomad, Prosecutes Official for Theft, for Cashing Paychecks
No dice, says the Indiana Supreme Court, in an interesting case discussing mistakes of law.
Alabama Killed an Inmate With an Experimental Execution Method. Ohio Could Be Next.
Following the nitrogen hypoxia execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith last week, Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to bring the execution method to their state.
Oklahoma Bill Would Specially Target Hispanic Gang Members
No, you can't do that.
Alabama Set To Use Experimental Execution Method
In killing Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia, the state would be using him as a "test subject," Smith's lawyers argue.
"Purported Robberies Were Staged" to Support "Fraudulent Visa Applications"
A system for encouraging cooperation by crime victims was allegedly turned into a means of producing visa fraud.
Why Section 3 Disqualification Doesn't Require a Prior Criminal Conviction on Charges of Insurrection [Updated]
The reason is a combination of the general structure of our legal system and the original meaning of Section 3.
Biden Expands Pardons for Marijuana Possession
It's a commendable, but very modest, expansion of a step he took last year.
The Flimsy RICO Case Against Atlanta's Cop City Protestors
Law enforcement officials appear to have tarred ad hoc bands of protesters as members of an organized criminal movement.
