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.
Courts
Indiana Said the Government Should Be Able To Take Everything You Own if You Commit a Drug Crime. The State Supreme Court Wasn't Having It.
After eight years, Tyson Timbs finally gets to keep his Land Rover—once and for all.
The Trouble With 'Common Good Originalism'
A new conservative faction embraces "authoritative rule for the common good."
A Euclid Cop Killed a Man Who Had Been Sleeping in His Car. The Cop Can't Be Sued. The City Can't Be, Either.
The Supreme Court has a chance to fix this. The stakes are high.
Cops Who Beat a Man After Pulling Him Over for Broken Lights Receive Qualified Immunity
The victim will now have no right to argue his case before a jury in civil court.
Supreme Court Won't Make Ban on Non-Unanimous Jury Convictions Retroactive
Bad news for hundreds of imprisoned defendants in Louisiana and Oregon
He Lost His Eye After a Cop Allegedly Fired a Tear Gas Canister at His Face. The Officer Says He Has Qualified Immunity.
If the officer succeeds, the victim will not be allowed to sue on those claims.
When Eminent Domain Is Used for Economic Assassination
Government officials who wield land grabs to pick economic winners and losers now want to use them to kill disfavored businesses.
Cops Receive Qualified Immunity for Coercing a 13-Year-Old Into Confessing to a Murder He Didn't Commit
The boy was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment.
Is Stephen Breyer About To Retire? His Clerk-Hiring Spree Suggests Otherwise.
Progressive activists are pushing the 82-year-old justice to step down.
Joe Biden, Who Says He's 'Not a Fan of Court Packing,' Just Created a Presidential Commission to Study Court Packing
The Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States will examine “the membership and size of the Court.”
No Qualified Immunity for Cop Who Shot and Killed a Suicidal Man, Says Federal Court
“An officer violates the Fourth Amendment if he shoots an unarmed, incapacitated suspect who is moving away from everyone present at the scene.”
They Served Their Sentences. Now They Want To Know When They Can Go Home.
Programs that keep sex offenders indefinitely confined face new challenges.
Trump's Bump Stock Ban Just Lost Big in Federal Court
“It is not the role of the executive—particularly the unelected administrative state—to dictate” the terms of criminal law, said the 6th Circuit.
'If You Wear a Federal Badge, You Can Inflict Excessive Force on Someone With Little Fear of Liability,' Complains Judge Don Willett
A federal judge protests the Supreme Court’s “rights-without-remedies” Bivens doctrine.
CDC Can't Force Landlords To Provide Free Housing, Says Court
Plus: Mexico moves closer to legalizing marijuana, Facebook fights monopoly allegations, and more...
Cops Who Assaulted and Arrested a Man for Standing Outside His Own House Got Qualified Immunity. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
The Supreme Court delivers another blow to a victim of egregious police abuse.
Some Jobs Are More Equal Than Others
All professions deserve the same constitutional protections that speech-heavy industries get.
A SWAT Team Destroyed This Innocent Woman's House While Chasing a Fugitive. The City Refuses To Pay for Damages.
"I've lost everything," says Vicki Baker.
A Promising Qualified Immunity Decision From a Potential Biden SCOTUS Nominee
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson denied qualified immunity to the officers involved in Patterson v. United States.
Merrick Garland's Worrying Record on Criminal Justice Reform
What to expect from Joe Biden’s pick for attorney general.
This Cop Wants Qualified Immunity for Fatally Shooting a Passenger in a Fleeing Vehicle
The unfolding legal saga of City of Hayward v. Stoddard-Nunez
Larry Flynt Made the World Freer for Everybody by Pushing Boundaries
Abrasive, tasteless, and uncompromising, Flynt undoubtedly made the world safer for speech of all varieties.
The Zoom Cat Lawyer Used Federal Agents To Torment a Former Lover With Drug Raids and Bogus Charges
In 2014, Reason reported on the misbehavior of Rod Ponton, who has suddenly risen to internet stardom after being unable to turn off an adorable filter during an online legal case.
An Unconstitutional Arrest for Refusing To Show ID to the Cops
Fourth Amendment advocates prevail in Wingate v. Fulford.
Indiana Argues That the State Should Be Able To Take Everything You Own if You Commit a Drug Crime
The state used civil asset forfeiture to seize Tyson Timbs' car in 2013. His nightmare hasn't ended.
Federal Court Confirms That Shackling an Inmate During Exercise Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The warden at the center of the case was originally given qualified immunity.
Prison Guards Who Forced Menstruating Visitor To Expose Vaginal and Anal Cavities Are Protected by Qualified Immunity
A federal court said it did not violate her Fourth Amendment rights.
A Libertarian Judge Champions Privacy Rights Against Warrantless Police Searches
Justice Clint Bolick dissents in Arizona v. Mixton.
Joe Biden Picks Merrick Garland for Attorney General
The Biden administration has just delivered its first disappointment to criminal justice reform advocates.
Biden's Judicial Picks Should Include Lawyers Who Battled the Government in Court
The incoming president can bring some much-needed professional diversity to the federal bench.
The Trouble With John Roberts' Brand of Legal Conservatism
Is the chief justice just a politician in robes?
Conservative Lawmakers and Legal Scholars Denounce Texas Election Suit as 'a Mockery of Federalism and Separation of Powers'
The Constitution “plainly makes the appointment of electors a state-by-state matter.”
California Judge Says Los Angeles County's Outdoor Dining Ban Isn't 'Grounded in Science, Evidence, or Logic'
A tentative decision from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant is yet another rebuke of officials trying to reimpose March-style lockdowns on a skeptical public.
House Passes Bill To Make Federal Court Records Free to the Public
The PACER database is antiquated and expensive to access, and that's just the way the federal judiciary likes it.
Trump's Judicial Humiliation Is Nearly Complete
The president and his allies keep losing election cases.
This Woman Permanently Lost Her Second Amendment Rights Because She Lied on Her Taxes
Is this the Supreme Court’s next big gun rights case?
Cops Who Beat and Killed an Innocent Man Are Not Entitled to Qualified Immunity, Appeals Court Rules. But the Cops Who Watched Are.
The legal doctrine provides rogue government agents cushy protections not available to the little guy.
If Joe Biden Is Serious About Criminal Justice Reform, He Won't Pick Merrick Garland for Attorney General
Garland’s judicial record is replete with deferential votes for police and prosecutors.
Prison Guards Who Forced Naked Inmate To Sleep in Sewage and Urine Were Given Qualified Immunity. SCOTUS Disagreed.
The legal doctrine is a free pass for rampant government abuse.
Trump's New Lawsuit Looks Like an Attempt To Cancel All Mail-in Votes in Pennsylvania
The newest lawsuit in Pennsylvania is a longshot attempt to argue that all mail-in voting is unconstitutional because it differs from traditional, in-person voting. It's likely to fail.
Amy Coney Barrett's Confirmation Hearings Were a Master Class in Political Posturing
Americans likely learned very little about her judicial philosophy.
The Courts Can't Decide How Many Ballot Drop Boxes Ohio Needs, and Now Everyone Else Is Confused Too
An appeals court upheld a rule by the Ohio Secretary of State to limit each county to just one ballot box, overturning a previous ruling that said more boxes were needed.
Emergency Coronavirus Orders Upheld in Wisconsin, Rejected in Michigan
Plus: Pandemic brings rise in electronic ankle monitoring, a court rules on stimulus checks for incarcerated people, and more...
Michigan Supreme Court Strikes Down Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 Executive Orders
Whitmer helped spark a national debate over the limits of executive power.
It's Official: Trump Nominates Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court
If confirmed, she would cement a strong 6-3 conservative majority.