He Was Arrested for Making a Joke on Facebook. A Jury Just Awarded Him $205,000 in Damages.
The verdict vindicates the constitutional rights that Louisiana sheriff's deputies flagrantly violated when they hauled Waylon Bailey off to jail.
Search and Seizure
The 5th Circuit Says Criminalizing Journalism Is Not Obviously Unconstitutional
The appeals court dismissed a civil rights lawsuit by a Laredo gadfly who was arrested for asking questions.
5 Years After a Deadly Drug Raid, Houston's Former Police Chief Might Finally Be Held Accountable
Since leaving Houston, Art Acevedo has bounced from job to job, continuing a spotty career marred by scandal.
Appeals Court: FBI's Safe-Deposit Box Seizures Violated Fourth Amendment
Cases like this are exactly why the Fourth Amendment was adopted in the first place, wrote federal Judge Milan D. Smith Jr.
Who Killed Elijah McClain? Mixed Verdicts Reflect a Cascade of Ultimately Fatal Mistakes.
Juries convicted two paramedics and one police officer of criminally negligent homicide but acquitted two other cops.
Trump's Promise to 'Indemnify' Cops 'Against Any and All Liability' Is Absurd for 2 Reasons
Police officers already are routinely indemnified, and suing them for abuse is much harder than Trump claims.
Taxpayer-Subsidized Seminars Train Cops To Violate the Constitution
A report from New Jersey's comptroller criticizes Street Cop Training for encouraging illegal traffic stops.
Mississippi Sheriff Insists He Was Oblivious to His Drug Warriors' Long Pattern of Brutality
Years before a federal case shined a light on the problem, Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey should have known something was amiss.
Cops Stormed Into a Terrified Seattle Woman's Home. It Was the Wrong Address.
Elisabeth Rehn was about to take a bath when police officers kicked down her door, flooded into her apartment, and pointed their guns at her.
Illinois Family Files Lawsuit After Police Execute Wrong-Door Raid and Allegedly Detain Them for 6 Hours
"I asked them to show me a warrant; they didn't show me nothing," a grandmother said.
Odd Colorado Ruling Upholds Internet Keyword Search Warrant
Court says the warrant was “constitutionally defective” but grants police a “good faith” exception.
Should Governments Need a Warrant To Spy on You With a Drone?
The Michigan Supreme Court will hear opening arguments today in a case that could decide whether the practice is allowed.
Minnesota's Top Court Rebukes Cops Who Searched a Car After Claiming To Smell Pot That Wasn't There
In light of the state's marijuana reforms, the court says, the odor of weed is not enough to establish probable cause.
On Guns, Drugs, and National Security, Dianne Feinstein Was Consistently Authoritarian
The late California senator always seemed to err on the side of more government power and less individual freedom.
How Hippies Saved the Fourth Amendment
The Nixon administration did everything it could to curb antiwar activism. Then the courts said it had gone too far.
A Ruling Against a Man Arrested for a COVID-19 Joke Highlights the Influence of a Pernicious Analogy
A federal judge compared Waylon Bailey’s Facebook jest to "falsely shouting fire in a theatre."
'No Reasonable Officer' Would Have Arrested a Guy for a COVID-19 Joke, the 5th Circuit Says
The appeals court ruled that a Facebook post alluding to World War Z was clearly protected by the First Amendment.
Is Tou Thao More Culpable Than the Other Cops Who Helped Derek Chauvin Kill George Floyd?
The former Minneapolis officer's 57-month sentence is based largely on the premise that he was "in the best position" to save Floyd.
Kansas Cops Have 'Waged War on Motorists' by Subjecting Them to Pretextual Traffic Stops, a Federal Judge Says
The ruling draws back the veil on routine police practices that victimize innocent drivers.
David Sosa Says Mistakenly Arresting Him Twice Based on His Name Violated His Rights. Other David Sosas Agree.
The 11th Circuit rejected Sosa's constitutional claims, and he is asking the Supreme Court to intervene.
Chicago Police Raided at Least 21 Wrong Houses
But poor record keeping hides the real number.
Feds May Need Warrants To Search Cell Phones at the Border After All
Snooping through emails, video, and photos isn’t the same as stumbling on containers full of cocaine.
Ohio Cops Raided Afroman's House Looking for a Dungeon Because of a Bizarre Confidential Informant Tip
All they found was some cool cars and clothes.
A Connecticut Couple Challenges Warrantless Surveillance of Their Property by Camera-Carrying Bears
The lawsuit looks iffy in light of the Supreme Court's "open fields" doctrine.
Michigan Supreme Court To Decide If Government Can Warrantlessly Spy on You With Drones
The state court of appeals held previously that unconstitutionally collected evidence could still be used for civil enforcement.
Even After Legalization, Maryland Cops Wanted to Search People Based on the Odor of Pot. Legislators Said No.
Police have a long history of using the real or imagined smell of marijuana to justify outrageous invasions.
Coverage of Alabama Town's Predatory Fines and Seizures Earns Journalists a Pulitzer
The Brookside Police Department’s shakedown of travelers became a national news story and prompted federal lawsuits.
Texas House Overwhelmingly Approves Restrictions on No-Knock Warrants
Conservatives who support the bill recognize the conflict between unannounced home invasions and the Second Amendment.
The Louisville Cop Who Killed Breonna Taylor Has a New Law Enforcement Gig
Myles Cosgrove never faced criminal charges in connection with Taylor's death, but he was fired for his reckless use of deadly force.
Louisville Police Abuses Show Civil Liberties Are Meaningless Without Accountability
Supervisors and judges tolerated outrageous constitutional violations, including illegal searches and brutal assaults.
West Virginia Family Court Judge with History of Arranging Warrantless Searches Resigns
We may have finally discovered a limit to judicial immunity.
Why Did Other Cops Fail To Stop the Lethal Assault on Tyre Nichols?
"Active bystandership" training aims to overcome the pressures that discourage police officers from intervening when their colleagues use excessive force.
'There's Nothing There,' Biden Said the Day Before the FBI Found More Classified Documents in His House
If Trump's handling of government secrets was "totally irresponsible," how should we describe Biden's conduct?
11th Circuit Says a Judge Should Not Have Interfered With the FBI's Review of the Mar-a-Lago Documents
The appeals court says Donald Trump's status as a former president does not entitle him to special treatment.
The Babylon Bee Joins The Onion in Decrying an Ohio Law That Makes Parody a Felony
The two fake news organizations want the Supreme Court to review the case of a man who was arrested for making fun of the police.
Federal Judge Decides Safe Deposit Boxes Aren't Safe From FBI
Judge Gary Klausner admits that the FBI probably hid their true motives in rifling through the contents of hundreds of safe deposit boxes, but says that's fine.
A Parodist Asks SCOTUS To Let Him Sue the Cops Who Arrested Him for Making Fun of Them
The 6th Circuit ruled that qualified immunity prevented Anthony Novak from vindicating his First Amendment rights.
Trump's Declassification Claims Are Implausible and Irrelevant
The potential crimes that the FBI is investigating do not hinge on the current classification status of the records that the former president kept at Mar-a-Lago.
The FBI Regains Access to Mar-a-Lago Documents That Trump Claims He Mentally Declassified
Even if Trump did declassify those records, the 11th Circuit says, he "has not identified any reason that he is entitled to them."
Judge Reviewing Mar-a-Lago Documents Complains That Trump Has Offered No Evidence He Declassified Them
In any case, that issue does not seem relevant under the statutes that the FBI cited in its search warrant.
Trump's Lawyers Say It's Not Clear Whether 'Purported' Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago 'Remain Classified'
The former president's legal team notably did not endorse his claim that he automatically declassified everything he took with him.
Trump's Document Trove Reportedly Included Information About a Foreign Nation's Nuclear Capabilities
"Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax," says the former president, who insists that nothing at Mar-a-Lago was actually classified.
Trump Lawyers' 'Diligent Search' for Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago Missed More Than 100
That failure adds to the evidence that Trump or his representatives obstructed the FBI's investigation.
The Redacted Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Affidavit Sheds Light on the FBI's Concerns and Trump's Defense
There are still lingering questions about the former president's criminal liability and the threat posed by the documents he kept.
Trump Reportedly Retained Hundreds of Documents That Were Marked As Classified
We still know almost nothing about their contents, which is relevant in assessing the decision to search Mar-a-Lago.
If We See an Expurgated Version of the Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Affidavit, What Will It Tell Us?
Although U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart is inclined to unseal the document, redactions demanded by the Justice Department could make it hard to understand.
It's Not Clear Why Trump Thinks Disclosing the Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Affidavit Would Help His Case
Reinforcing the FBI's suspicions was the whole point of that document, which is likely to remain sealed.
