More from this issue:

1. News in Brief
2. St. Louis Ordered to Stop Holding Detainees Simply Because They Can’t Afford Bail, by Kevin Bliss
3. Debunked Shaken-Baby Syndrome Leads to Reduced Sentence, by Anthony Accurso
4. Video Bail Hearings Violate Rights in Many Ways, by Edward Lyon
5. Chicago Fingerprint Unit Flawed, Under Scrutiny, by Bill Barton
6. Seventh Circuit Rules Failure to Issue Summons or Warrant Means Supervised Release Not Tolled While Merely in Custody, by Anthony Accurso
7. Private Companies Use DNA Profiles to Snitch on Customers and Their Families, by Douglas Ankney
8. California Losing Millions in Civil Asset Forfeiture Funds as Law Aims to Curb Police Abuse
9. Second Circuit Holds NY Sodomy Not ‘Prior Sex Conviction’ for Purposes of Federal Statute Mandating Life Sentence for Repeat Sex Offenders, by Dale Chappell
10. Groundbreaking Empirical Study of Expungement Released, by Bill Barton
11. Sixth Circuit Announces § 2244(B)(1) Doesn’t Apply to Successive § 2255 Petitions and Rules That If the District Court Relied on Residual Clause of ACCA When Determining Prior Conviction Qualified as Predicate Felony, Then Sentence Cannot Stand, by Douglas Ankney
12. Florida Supreme Court Holds Sentencing Statute That Allows Judge to Determine Dangerousness Triggering Upward Depar-ture of Maximum Sentence Unconstitutional, by Dale Chappell
13. Minnesota Supreme Court Clarifies That State Has Burden to Prove Competency to Stand Trial, by Dale Chappell
14. Will Police Recruitment Crisis Prompt Change in Behavior?, by Douglas Ankney
15. Houston Police Cover up Crime Scene With Poor Investigation Techniques, by Kevin Bliss
16. Colorado Supreme Court Announces Sniff by Drug Dog Trained to Detect Marijuana Now Constitutes a ‘Search’ Requiring Probable Cause, by Dale Chappell
17. Tennessee Supreme Court Holds Judge Lacks Authority to Sign Search Warrant for Property Outside Court’s Jurisdiction, by Dale Chappell
18. Another Study Shows There’s No ‘War on Police’, by Bill Barton
19. 7th Circuit Instructs District Court to Grant Federal Prisoner’s Habeas Based on § 2255(e) Savings Clause, by Douglas Ankney
20. Qualified Immunity: Explained, by Amir H. Ali, Emily Clark
21. Massive Outing of Nationwide Instances of Police Misconduct Revealed, by Edward Lyon
22. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Explains Procedures of G. L. c. 278A and Rules That a Claim of Self-Defense Is a Claim of Factual Innocence, by Douglas Ankney
23. Vermont Supreme Court Rules DUI Breath Test Subject to Voluntariness Challenge Despite Implied Consent Law, by Mark Wilson
24. California Court of Appeal Announces Defendant Convicted of Felony Accessory Is Eligible for Resentencing Under Proposition 64, by Douglas Ankney
25. California Supreme Court Reverses Attempted Murder and Explains Elements Required For Kill Zone Theory Instruction, by Anthony Accurso
26. Oregon Supreme Court Holds ‘Attempt’ Requires Intent to Personally Participate in the Crime, by Dale Chappell
27. $13.1 Million Settlement Reached by Actor Framed for Murder, by Douglas Ankney
28. BOP Finally Implements First Step Act, Officially Releases 3,100 Prisoners Under ‘Good Conduct Time’, by Dale Chappell
29. Colorado Supreme Court Announces That the People Cannot Withdraw From a Plea Agreement After the Trial Court Rejects Stipulated Sentence, by Douglas Ankney
30. NYU Study Shows ‘Predictive Policing Systems’ Promote Bad Data, Bad Policing, by Dale Chappell
31. SCOTUS: SOL Governing § 1983 Claim Asserting Fabrication of Evidence Begins to Run on Date Criminal Proceedings Are Terminated in Complainant’s Favor, by Douglas Ankney
32. Indiana Supreme Court Reduces 30-Year Prison Sentence to 23-Year Community Corrections Placement in Rare Case, by Chad Marks
33. New Jersey Supreme Court: Prosecution May Appeal Drug Court Sentence Only When Sentence Is Illegal, by Douglas Ankney
34. Sixth Circuit: Prosecutor’s Numerous Improper Comments Constitute Flagrant Misconduct Depriving Defendants of a Fair Trial, by Anthony Accurso
35. Fourth Circuit Reverses Lower Court for Giving Dispositive Weight to Plea Agreement Language Rather Than Fact-Based Evaluation of Weight of Evidence in IAC Claim, by David M. Reutter
36. Taking Notes Influences Jurors’ Verdicts, by Douglas Ankney
37. Colorado Supreme Court Announces That Claims of Insufficient Evidence Not Preserved at Trial Are Subject to De Novo Review on Appeal, by Douglas Ankney
38. Refusing to Permit Attorney to Make Offer of Proof Is Abuse of Discretion, Says Indiana Supreme Court, by Douglas Ankney
39. Change to New York Misdemeanor Definition May Benefit Non-Citizens, by Michael Berk
40. Montana Supreme Court Rules Leaving a Brewery Doesn’t Provide Particularized Suspicion of DUI, by Anthony Accurso
41. Massachusetts Supreme Court Holds Statute Requiring GPS Monitoring of Probationers Convicted of Sex Offenses Unconstitutional ‘as Applied’, by Douglas Ankney
42. Oregon Supreme Court: Claim Based on New Rule of Constitutional Law Cognizable in Untimely Oregon PCR Action, by Mark Wilson
43. Virtual Imprisonment as Big Brother Interactively Listens From Cradle to School to Prison to Parole to Grave, by Edward Lyon
44. Column: Obtaining Relief Under 'Davis' in the Wake of 'Johnson', by Dale Chappell
45. Seventh Circuit: Woman Answering Door of Suspect’s Residence Wearing Bathrobe Does Not Constitute Apparent Authority to Consent to Search, by Chad Marks
46. The Role of Police Misconduct in Wrongful Convictions, by Matthew Clarke

More from Dale Chappell:

• Arguing Successful Federal Habeas Corpus Claims, June 1, 2025
• How to Take Your Postconviction Case Directly to the U.S. Supreme Court: A Roadmap to Direct Collateral Review, March 15, 2025
• Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners: Proving Unreasonableness Under AEDPA, Feb. 1, 2025
• Federal Court Rules Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Laws Violate Constitution, Dec. 1, 2024
• Refuting the Government’s Argument Against Nonretroactive Changes in Law as Grounds for Compassionate Release, Oct. 1, 2024
• Federal Habeas Corpus: Getting Around Procedural Default, July 15, 2024
• The Death of the Savings Clause, May 15, 2024
• Federal Habeas Corpus: Understanding Second or Successive Petitions for State Prisoners, April 15, 2024
• Fourth Circuit Reinstates Relief From Death Penalty, Citing State’s Forfeiture of Argument Against Relief, May 15, 2023
• Federal Habeas Corpus: The Evidentiary Hearing for Federal Prisoners, April 15, 2023

More from these topics:

• The “Free Trial” Police State, March 1, 2026. Police State-Surveillance, Enforcement of Immigration Laws, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights, Use of Drones.
• Flock’s Gunshot Sensors Are Expanding to “Distress” Sounds, Feb. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Recordings, Privacy Act/Rights.
• How AI Integration Used by Law Enforcement Fails the Public, Feb. 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, False Arrest, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of.
• Federal Funds Now Available for Police Drone Purchases, Jan. 1, 2026. Federal Legislation, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance.
• Mass Surveillance for Profit: Flock’s AI Reports “Suspicious” Movement to Police, Dec. 15, 2025. Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Protests, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance.
• Police AI and “Sycophancy”: New Evidence Tools May Tell Cops Exactly What They Want to Hear, Dec. 15, 2025. junk science, Police State-Surveillance, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
• An AI Model from Securus Aims to Expand Phone Call Monitoring, Dec. 1, 2025. Databases, Telephone Rates, Telephone Monitoring, Electronic Surveillance, Securus.
• ICE Amasses Mass Surveillance Arsenal Targeting U.S. Citizens and Protesters, Nov. 15, 2025. Protests, First Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Enforcement of Immigration Laws, Electronic Surveillance.
• FCC Issues Proposed Rule Permitting Cellphone Jammers in Prisons and Jails, Nov. 1, 2025. Statistics/Trends, Telephone Rates, Cell Phone Access, Federal Legislation, Police State-Surveillance.
• DHS Has Been Quietly Collecting DNA From U.S. Citizens for Years, Funneling It Into FBI’s CODIS Without Oversight, Oct. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, Police State-Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights, Police/Govt Misconduct, Suspicionless Searches.