More from this issue:

1. Courts Have Made Social Media a Landmine for Defendants. Could It Change Soon?, by Steve Horn
2. $600,000 Awarded Missouri Man in Legal Malpractice Verdict After 17 Years in Prison
3. Denver Under Fire For Law That Critics Describe as Legalized ‘Car Stealing’, by Derek Gilna
4. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Search Warrant Required for Nonconsensual Entry into Any Residence to Carry Out Arrest Warrant, by Richard Resch
5. Mississippi Supreme Court Clarifies that Appellate Courts Never Serve as ‘13th Juror’ for Motion for New Trial, by David Reutter
6. New Mexico Supreme Court: Seriousness of Charged Crime Itself Not Sufficient to Deny Defendant Pretrial Release, by Dale Chappell
7. #Policetoo: 35 States Allow ‘Consensual’ Sex Between Police and Detainees, by Christopher Zoukis
8. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Announces ‘Finality’ Under Sentence Enhancement Provision for Out-of-State Convictions Governed by Texas Law, by Dale Chappell
9. Durham, North Carolina, Opts Out of Military-Style Training for Police, by Christopher Zoukis
10. Seventh Circuit Affirms Suppression of Evidence Because Traffic Stop Unreasonably Prolonged, by Christopher Zoukis
11. Montana Supreme Court Holds Failure to Instruct Jury on State’s Burden of Proof is Plain Error, by Dale Chappell
12. Utah Supreme Court: Procedural Due Process Violated Where Failure to Participate in Sex Offender Treatment Program Used to Deny Parole to Prisoner Not Convicted of Sex Offense, by David Reutter
13. Eleventh Circuit Holds Florida Drug Trafficking Statute Indivisible and Overbroad for Removal Under Immigration and Nationality Act, by Dale Chappell
14. Biased Facial Recognition Systems Are Coming to a Law Enforcement Agency Near You, by Christopher Zoukis
15. Washington Supreme Court: Nexus Between Property Searched and Probation Violation Required for Warrantless Search of Probationer’s Property, by Dale Chappell
16. Missouri High Court Holds Checkbox-Style Search Warrant Constitutes an Unconstitutional General Warrant, by Dale Chappell
17. $1 Million Paid by NYC to Settle False Arrest Claim
18. Government Eyes Are Watching You: We Are All Prisoners of the Surveillance State, by John W. Whitehead
19. Kansas Supreme Court: Judge’s ‘Thwarting’ of Defendant’s Right to Self-Representation was Structural Error Requiring Reversal of Convictions, by Dale Chappell
20. New Jersey Supreme Court: Substantive Error to Amend Indictment to Change Degree of Felony on Eve of Trial, by Matthew Clarke
21. Seattle to Toss Old Pot Convictions
22. Missouri Supreme Court Clarifies No Resisting Arrest Charge Once Arrest is Completed, by Dale Chappell
23. Fifth Circuit Grants § 2255 Petition Challenging Failure to Register Conviction for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, by Christopher Zoukis
24. FBI Data Reveal ‘War on Cops’ is Nonexistent, by Dale Chappell
25. South Carolina Supreme Court Clarifies When Court Can Deny Right to Self-Representation; Orders New Trial, by Dale Chappell
26. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Vacates Intellectually Disabled Prisoner’s Death Sentence, by Christopher Zoukis
27. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces New Rule to Allow IAC Claims for Fine-Only Sentences, by Dale Chappell
28. Ninth Circuit: Younger Abstention Not Appropriate in Habeas Case Challenging Lack of Constitutionally Sufficient Bail Hearing, by Christopher Zoukis
29. Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Criminally Negligent Homicide Because Conduct was ‘Too Remote’ from Cause of Death, by Dale Chappell
30. Is FBI Using Classified Tools for Everyday Investigations?, by Christopher Zoukis
31. Legally Thrown in Jail for Wanting to File a Complaint Against Police
32. District Court Grants Bail in a Drug Case Over Government’s Typical Assertion That ‘No Condition or Combination of Conditions Would Reasonably Assure the Defendant’s Presence at Trial’
33. Powerful District Attorney Lobbies Improperly Influence Law Making, by Matthew Clarke
34. NYPD Hands Out Business Cards So Suspects Can Rate Their Encounter with Cops
35. State Attorney in Vermont Won’t Prosecute Misdemeanor Opioid Treatment Drug Cases, by Betty Nelander
36. News in Brief
37. Ninth Circuit Rules Weekends in Jail Count as Time ‘In Prison’, by Dale Chappell
38. The Long, Dark History of Law Enforcement’s Warrantless Bus Searches, by Steve Horn
39. Louisiana Supreme Court: Jury May Not Speculate on Guilt When Evidence Is Lacking, by Dale Chappell
40. Risk Assessment Software: Biased and No Better Than Human Behavior Prediction, by Christopher Zoukis
41. Daily Caller Investigation Lays Opiate Crisis at Feet of DEA, by Derek Gilna
42. SCOTUS: Warrantless Invasion of Curtilage to Conduct Search Unconstitutional, by Richard Resch
43. Dial T for Tyranny: While America Feuds, the Police State Shifts Into High Gear, by John W. Whitehead
44. Non-Unanimous Jury Verdicts Give Prosecutors ‘Awesome Power’ and Have Racist Roots, by Dale Chappell

More from Christopher Zoukis:

• The Contraband Wars Prison authorities target books and mail, miss the goods coming through the staff door, July 1, 2021
• Trump v. Biden on Criminal Justice, Oct. 1, 2020
• Coronavirus in Prison: The Cruel Reality, Aug. 1, 2020
• With Lives of Immigrant Detainees at Risk to COVID-19, Federal Judge Forces ICE’s Hand, July 1, 2020
• A Nation on the Brink, June 15, 2020
• Federal Court Slams Michigan Jail for Bungling COVID-19 Pandemic, Demands Names of Vulnerable Prisoners for Release, June 1, 2020
• Silence: The Bureau of Prisons’ Pathetic Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, June 1, 2020
• New York Judge Orders Release of 18 Rikers Island Detainees Due to COVID-19 Risk, June 1, 2020
• Coronavirus: A Nationwide Survey of the Push for Early Release as Pandemic Fears Grow, May 1, 2020
• California Three-Judge Court Denies Emergency Motion to Reduce Prison Population During Pandemic, May 1, 2020

More from these topics:

• Cuyahoga County Judges Vowed to Reform the Bail System. Here’s What Happened., Feb. 15, 2025. Prison Reform, Bail, Bail Bonds.
• Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Prisoner on Confrontation Clause and Ineffective Assistance Claims Based on Trial Court Reading Entire Criminal Information Into the Record of Co-Conspirator Who Pleaded Guilty, Feb. 15, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Exculpatory No Doctrine, Confrontation Clause/Rights, Witnesses - Prior Statements/Testimony, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Grants Habeas Relief in ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case, Feb. 1, 2025. junk science, Habeas Corpus, Forensic Sciences, Child Abuse/Abusers, Evidence - Admissibility.
• California Prisoner Awarded Over $1.26 Million in Suit Challenging Withheld Legal Mail Which Resulted in Habeas Loss, Jan. 15, 2025. Settlements, Habeas Corpus, Mail Regulations, Legal Mail.
• Georgia Supreme Court Grants Habeas Relief Where Both Trial and Appellate Counsel Provided Ineffective Assistance by Failing to Challenge Indictment for Residential Burglary That Failed to Allege Defendant Illegally Entered a ‘Dwelling’, Jan. 15, 2025. Habeas Corpus, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Constitutional Challenges/Law.
• Ninth Circuit Holds District Courts Have No Authority Under Rule 4 of Rules Governing § 2254 Cases to Dismiss Habeas Petition on the Merits, Dec. 15, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Dismissal, Authority and Jurisdiction.
• Ninth Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to California Prisoner on Napue Claim Because Prosecution Failed to Correct Informant’s False Testimony That He Did Not Receive Any Benefit In Exchange for His Testimony, Dec. 1, 2024. Informants, Habeas Corpus, Informants and Paid Witnesses, False Testimony.
• Public Defender Files Habeas Petitions for Detainees at “Horrific” Baltimore Lockup, Nov. 15, 2024. Failure to Treat, Conditions of Confinement, Hygiene Supplies, Disclosure of Records, Habeas Corpus.
• Ninth Circuit Denies Habeas Relief to Prisoner Who Invoked Fifth Amendment Right to Counsel During Custodial Interrogation but Made Incriminating Statements to Undercover Informant Posing as Fellow Prisoner Because Right to Counsel Not Violated, Nov. 1, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Custodial Interrogations/Statements, Counsel - Right to.
• Georgia Supreme Court Grants Habeas Where Defense Counsel Failed to Understand State Self-Defense Statute Provides Complete Defense to Felony Murder Based on Felon-in-Possession Charge, Oct. 1, 2024. Habeas Corpus, Felon in Possession Statute, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Murder/Felony Murder.