Search and Seizure
If You Give a Bear a Badge, Will It Respect Your Rights?
Despite their general ignorance of constitutional law, bears pose a much less grave threat to your civil liberties than humans do.
How Politicians and Cops Tried To Dodge Responsibility in 2025
Presidents, legislators, and police officers were desperate to blame anyone but themselves.
This Tennessee Man Spent 37 Days in Jail for Sharing an Anti-Trump Meme. He Says the Cops Should Pay for That.
Larry Bushart's lawyers argue that his arrest for constitutionally protected speech violated the First and Fourth amendments.
Suspicion That Man Fiddling with Phone Might Be "Filming School Children" Doesn't Justify Detention by Police
"To hold otherwise would allow police officers to demand identification from anyone near a school while using a smartphone—parents taking first-day-of-school videos, a grandparent trying to pull up directions while in the school drop-off line, or dog walkers holding their phone near their chest."
A Texas News Vlogger Asks SCOTUS To Decide Whether Criminalizing Journalism Is 'Obviously Unconstitutional'
This is Priscilla Villarreal’s second trip to the Supreme Court, which last year revived her First Amendment lawsuit.
CBP Agents Held This U.S. Citizen for Hours Until He Agreed To Let Them Search His Electronic Devices
A federal lawsuit argues that the agency's policy of perusing travelers' personal data without a warrant or probable cause violates the Fourth Amendment.
How ICE Is Watching Your Thanksgiving Drive
ICE and Border Patrol are using license plate cameras for extensive domestic surveillance.
Trump Says Legislators Committed Treason by Noting That Soldiers Are Not Obligated To Obey Unlawful Orders
The president's authoritarian response to a video posted by six members of Congress, who he says "should be arrested and put on trial," validates their concerns.
Florida Deputies Jailed Her for 3 Days Even Though She Was Obviously Not the Suspect Described in a Warrant
A federal judge cleared the way for Jennifer Heath Box's lawsuit against the cops who misidentified her as a fugitive, despite a "mountain of evidence" that they had the wrong woman.
'Botched' Drug Raids Show How Prohibition Invites Senseless Violence
The war on drugs authorizes police conduct that otherwise would be readily recognized as criminal.
5 Years After Breonna Taylor Was Killed, 1 Officer Gets 33 Months
Brett Hankison was convicted of violating Breonna Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights during a fatal no-knock police raid.
The 5th Circuit Rejects Qualified Immunity for a Child-Snatching Texas Cop Who Falsely Alleged Abandonment
Alexandra Weaver argued that she could not reasonably have been expected to know her actions were unconstitutional.
Federal Courts Shrug at Potentially Lethal Wrong-Door Raids
Cops should not be free to forgo the modicum of care required to make sure they’re in the right place.
'Don't You Want To Confirm Who I Am?' a Mistakenly Arrested Grandmother Asked the Marshals. They Did Not.
Penny McCarthy is suing the federal agents who insisted she was a fugitive despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Denver Case Highlights the Potentially Deadly Hazards of Police Raids Based on Secondhand Information
Michael Mendenhall wants the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that allows home invasions based on nothing but hearsay.
A Federal Judge Says New Mexico Cops Reasonably Killed an Innocent Man at the Wrong House
U.S. District Judge Matthew Garcia rejected the argument that the officers "recklessly created the need to apply deadly force by going to the wrong address."
The Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects a 'Very Narrow Approach' to Deadly Force by Police
The decision revives a lawsuit against a Texas officer who shot a driver after endangering himself by jumping onto a moving car.
Border Cops Try To Make an End Run Around Attorney-Client Privilege
Detroit lawyer Amir Makled has confidential client data on his phone. That didn’t stop U.S. Customs and Border Protection from trying to search it.
What To Do If Border Police Ask To Search Your Phone
Know how much the law does—and doesn’t—protect your privacy rights.
Will FBI Director Kash Patel Be a Principled Reformer or a Trump Hatchet Man?
The newly confirmed head of the country's leading law enforcement agency has a history of advocating politically motivated investigations even while condemning them.
Pervasive Police Corruption in Albuquerque Explains Why a Teetotaler Was Arrested for DWI
A driver who was acquitted of drunk driving joins a class action lawsuit provoked by a bribery scheme that went undetected for decades.
An Alabama D.A. Filed Legally Impossible Charges Against School Board Members Who Crossed Him
A board employee and a local reporter were arrested on the same bogus charge of divulging nonexistent grand jury secrets.
Dallas Voters Nix an All-Purpose Excuse for Police Harassment: 'I Smelled Marijuana'
The ballot initiative says a whiff of weed does not establish probable cause for a search or seizure, which was already doubtful in light of hemp legalization.
Nearly Five Years After Breonna Taylor's Death, Justice Remains Elusive
A long-delayed conviction illustrates the difficulty of holding cops accountable for abusing their powers.
Cop Who Fired Blindly Into Breonna Taylor's Home Is Convicted of Violating Her Constitutional Rights
Former Louisville detective Brett Hankison is one of four officers who faced federal charges after a deadly 2020 drug raid.
Local Governments Are Seizing and Selling Homes Over Small Tax Debts
Home equity theft happens when governments auction off seized houses and keep the profits—even once the tax bill is paid.
Chip Mellor's Legacy Promotes a Broader Concept of Civil Liberties
For more than three decades, the Institute for Justice has shown that economic freedom and private property are essential safeguards for ordinary Americans.
Police Want the Password to Your Phone
Without a warrant and specific proof of incriminating evidence, police should never be allowed past your phone’s lock screen.
Former Houston Drug Cop Gets 60 Years for His Deadly Lies
That amounts to a life sentence for Gerald Goines, who instigated the no-knock raid that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas by falsely accusing them of selling heroin.
A Texas Cop Endangered Himself by Jumping Onto a Moving Car. Then He Shot the Driver.
The Supreme Court will review a 5th Circuit decision that let the officer off the hook without considering the recklessness that turned a routine traffic stop into a deadly encounter.
A Houston Drug Cop's Murder Conviction Highlights the Potentially Deadly Consequences of 'Testilying'
Similar scandals across the country suggest the problem is widespread.
Former Houston Drug Cop Convicted of Murder After His Lies Resulted in Two Deaths
The jury accepted the prosecution's argument that Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas died because of Gerald Goines' fraudulent search warrant affidavit.
Jurors Weigh Murder Charges Against Former Houston Drug Cop Who Lied to Justify a Deadly Home Invasion
But for Gerald Goines' lies on a search warrant affidavit, prosecutors argued, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas would still be alive.
A Movie Mirrors the Stranger-Than-Fiction Reality of Civil Asset Forfeiture
The outrageous seizure at the center of Rebel Ridge resembles real-life cash grabs.
Houston Officials Trusted a Dishonest Drug Cop for Decades Before His Lies Killed 2 People
But for a disastrous raid, narcotics officer Gerald Goines would have been free to continue framing people he thought were guilty.
Houston Cop Who Lied To Justify a No-Knock Drug Raid Says He Is Not Responsible for the Resulting Deaths
Former narcotics officer Gerald Goines faces two murder charges for instigating the home invasion that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas.
Federal Judge Highlights the Hazards of Reckless Drug War Tactics
The ruling notes that Breonna Taylor’s death resulted from the "late-night, surprise manner of entry."
Why a Federal Judge Dismissed 2 Felony Charges Stemming From the Drug Raid That Killed Breonna Taylor
U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson concluded that the alleged facts did not support penalty enhancements for violating the Fourth Amendment but left several other charges in place.
Police Cannot Seize Property Indefinitely After an Arrest, Federal Court Rules
Many circuit courts have said that law enforcement can hold your property for as long as they want. D.C.’s high court decided last week that’s unconstitutional.
She 'Came at Me With Boiling Water,' a Cop Charged With Murder Claims, Contradicting What Video Shows
An Illinois sheriff's deputy with a spotty employment history shot Sonya Massey in the face after responding to her report of a prowler.
The DEA Claims To Be Able To Search Your Bag Without Your Consent. But Can They?
Recent footage shows a federal agent attempting to search a citizen’s bag without their consent, despite precedent saying that’s illegal.
A Federal Judge Rejects the Lame Excuses of Texas Cops Who Kidnapped a Supposedly 'Abandoned' Teenager
The decision clears the way for a jury to consider Megan and Adam McMurry's constitutional claims against the officers who snatched their daughter.
"What Happens … When Two School Employees Suspect That Their Colleague is Under the Influence
"of prescription medication, search her bag without permission, and find a firearm inside? And what happens when school board officials find out and want to question the perpetrator? Has the Fourth Amendment been transgressed?"
Michigan Supreme Court Allows Evidence Collected by Drone, Without a Warrant
The court declined to address whether the search violated the Fourth Amendment and merely held that the evidence could not be excluded in a civil case.
A Texas Reporter Busted for Asking Questions Asks SCOTUS To Reject the Criminalization of Journalism
Priscilla Villarreal is appealing a 5th Circuit decision that dismissed her First Amendment lawsuit against Laredo police and prosecutors.
Appeals Court Rules That Cops Can Physically Make You Unlock Your Phone
The 9th Circuit determined that forcibly mashing a suspect's thumb into his phone to unlock it was akin to fingerprinting him at the police station.
