More from this issue:

1. Study: Unionized Police? Increased Misconduct, by Derek Gilna
2. ‘Serious Bodily Harm’ Does Not Include Animals, Massachusetts Supreme Court Holds, by Dale Chappell
3. Georgia Supreme Court Vacates Convictions and Sentences Due to Merger Errors, by Matthew Clarke
4. Rhode Island High Court Abolishes Shatney in Initial Application for Postconviction Relief by Prisoners Serving Life Without Parole, by Matthew Clarke
5. North Dakota Supreme Court Announces Interpretation of Restitution Statutes, by Christopher Zoukis
6. Fifth Circuit: 96-Day Pretrial Detention Without Appearance Before Judge or Chance to Post Bail Violates Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Rights, by Matthew Clarke
7. Fifth Circuit Holds Prisoner May Sign and Deliver Habeas-Related Motion on Behalf of Fellow Prisoner Under Prison Mailbox Rule, by Dale Chappell
8. Federal Judge Excludes Evidence After FBI Lies on Search Warrant Affidavit, Geek Squad on FBI payroll, by Matthew Clarke
9. ‘Black Identity Extremists’ Added to FBI List of Domestic Terrorists, by Christopher Zoukis
10. The G-Men are Coming: Local Cops Partner with Federal Authorities to Deport Undocumented Immigrants, by Christopher Zoukis
11. U.S. Supreme Court: Death Penalty Case Involving Racist Juror Requires Further Consideration, by Christopher Zoukis
12. Ohio Supreme Court Holds State Cannot Prove ‘Bulk Amount’ of Fentanyl Under Statute, by Dale Chappell
13. Colorado Supreme Court: Conviction of Drunk Motorist for Attempted Reckless Manslaughter and Attempted Second Degree Assault Requires Risk to Discernable Person, Not Merely Public At-Large, by Christopher Zoukis
14. U.S. Supreme Court Resolves Split Among Circuit Courts of Appeals on Tax Code § 7212(a), by Richard Resch
15. Ninth Circuit Reverses Drug Smuggling Conviction for Improper Exclusion of Evidence of Third-Party Culpability, by Christopher Zoukis
16. Arizona Supreme Court: Trial Court Must Tell Jury Defendant Ineligible for Parole in Death Penalty Phase, by Dale Chappell
17. Iowa Supreme Court Rules District Courts Have Authority to Hear Postconviction Relief Actions Involving Deprivation of Liberty or Property Interest, by David Reutter
18. Innocence be Damned: Prosecutors Who Disregard Justice in Push to Win at Any Cost, by Dale Chappell
19. Cautionary Tale: Visible Fingertips in Cellphone Pictures Can Get You Arrested, by Steve Horn
20. D.C. Circuit Vacates Sentence Because Government Breached Plea Agreement by Providing Defendant’s Confidential Statements to Sentencing Court, by Dale Chappell
21. Colorado Supreme Court Limits Bottom End of Aggravated Sentencing Statute for Habitual Sex Offenders, by Christopher Zoukis
22. New Report: 60 Percent of Exonerations Stem from Official Misconduct, by Steve Horn
23. Washington High Court Issues New Rule Making Immigration Status Inadmissible, by Derek Gilna
24. ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Diagnoses Discredited, Convictions Questioned, by Matthew Clarke
25. Captured: ‘Golden State Killer’ Wanted for 12 Murders and 50 Rapes Turns Out To Be Former Sacramento-Area Cop, by Derek Gilna
26. Louisiana: No Charges for Cops Who Shot Alton Sterling, Despite Body-Cam Evidence, by Monte McCoin
27. Coast to Coast, Sex Offender Residency Restrictions Waste Money, Create Havoc, by Sandy Rozek
28. ‘Broken Windows’ Policing Results in Police Lying About Unlawful Stops, by Matthew Clarke
29. Drug-Induced Homicide Laws Hurt Rather Than Help Opioid Overdose Crisis, by Dale Chappell
30. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules FBI Admission Microscopic Hair Analysis Wrong 90% of the Time is Newly Discovered Fact Allowing Untimely Post-Conviction Relief Petition, by Christopher Zoukis
31. Habeas Hints: Understanding and Satisfying the Strickland Test for IAC, by Kent A. Russell, Tara Hoveland
32. Book Review: California Habeas Handbook 2.0 by Kent A. Russell, by Christopher Zoukis
33. Victory: Virginia Supreme Court Delivers Blow to Police Use of License Plate Reader Technology to Track Drivers, Surveil Citizens, by The Rutherford Institute
34. U.S. Supreme Court Holds Residual Clause Definition of ‘Crime of Violence’ Unconstitutionally Vague Under Due Process Clause, by Dale Chappell
35. Vague Criminality and Mass Incarceration: Will Dimaya End the Insanity?, by Leah Litman
36. New York Times Investigation Spotlights NYPD Practice of ‘Testilying’, by Derek Gilna
37. News in Brief
38. Sex Offender Registries: Common Sense or Nonsense?, by Christopher Zoukis

More from Leah Litman:

• Vague Criminality and Mass Incarceration: Will Dimaya End the Insanity?, May 15, 2018

More from these topics:

• Wisconsin Supreme Court: Jail Time Must Be Credited When Charge Causing Jailing Read in At Sentencing, Jan. 1, 2024. Sentencing, Good Time, Sentences - Corrections or Modifications of, Credits.
• Changing Perception, Changing The Law, April 15, 2020. Sentencing, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
• Seventh Circuit: Trial Judge Violated 5th Amendment by Modifying Instructions to Allow Jury to Convict on Offenses Not Charged in Indictment, April 15, 2020. Sentencing.
• SCOTUS: ‘Serious Drug Offense’ Under ACCA Is Self-Defining, Match with Equivalent Federal Offense Not Required, April 15, 2020. Sentencing.
• Illinois Prisoner Locked Up Decades Without a Conviction or Sentence, April 1, 2020. Criminal Prosecution, Sentencing.
• Racial Disparity at Sentencing on the Rise, March 18, 2020. Racial Discrimination, Sentencing.
• Kansas Supreme Court: Claim of Illegal Sentence Raised for First Time on Appeal Entitled to Merits Review, March 18, 2020. Appeals, Sentencing.
• Utah District Court Finds First Step Act Gives Court Authority to Reduce Stacked 55-Year § 924(c) Sentence, March 18, 2020. Sentencing.
• Unsurprisingly Lenient Sentence for Rapist Cop, Feb. 19, 2020. Police Misconduct, Sentencing, Police.
• Study Confirms Immigrants Sentenced More Harshly in Non-Immigrant Areas, Feb. 19, 2020. Racial Discrimination, Sentencing, Immigration.