More from this issue:

1. Forensic Science: Reliable and Valid?, by Jayson Hawkins
2. ‘Changes Are a Comin’, by Anthony Accurso
3. Kansas Supreme Court: Expired License Plate Doesn’t Attenuate Evidence from Illegal Seizure, by Douglas Ankney
4. Defendant’s Flight From Police’s Illegal Frisk Doesn’t Render Improperly Obtained Evidence Admissible in Maryland, by Anthony Accurso
5. Costly Electronic Monitoring Programs Replacing Ineffective Jail Bond Systems, by Kevin Bliss
6. Ninth Circuit Clarifies When Warrantless Searches of Cellphones at Border Are Reasonable, by Douglas Ankney
7. Faulty Science Still Admissible Evidence in Many States, by Kevin Bliss
8. Big Brother, Big Business, Big Law Enforcement, by Edward Lyon
9. Third Circuit Announces New Rule for Amending § 2255 Motions on Appeal, by Dale Chappell
10. Alabama OKs Chemical Castration for Some Sex Offenders, by Dale Chappell
11. California Court of Appeal Announces Defendant Convicted of Felony Accessory Is Eligible for Resentencing Under Proposition 64, by Douglas Ankney
12. Connecticut Supreme Court: When Expert’s Testimony Asserts Truth of DNA Profile Prepared by a Different Non-Testifying Expert, Confrontation Clause Is Violated, by Douglas Ankney
13. Ex-Felons’ Rights Expanding to Include Jury Duty, by Edward Lyon
14. Hundreds of Missouri Prisoners May Be Released Under New Sentencing Reform Law, by Dale Chappell
15. U.S. District Court Grants Savings Clause Petition, Vacates Mandatory Life Sentence, by Dale Chappell
16. Tenth Circuit: District Court Abused Discretion in Denying § 2255 Petition Without Hearing Where Record Didn’t Conclusively Show Defendant Not Entitled to Relief, by Douglas Ankney
17. Ninth Circuit: Drug Quantity in PSR Adopted by Sentencing Court not Binding in § 3582(c)(2) Sentence Reduction Proceedings, by Michael Berk
18. 10th Circuit: District Court Must Ensure When Defendant Waives Right to Counsel He Understands He’s Required to Adhere to Federal Procedural and Evidentiary Rules, by Douglas Ankney
19. Is Data Mining an Invasion of Privacy?, by Kevin Bliss
20. Ninth Circuit Rules IAC for Failure to Investigate Mitigating Evidence During Penalty Phase of Capital Trial, by Anthony Accurso
21. Fifth Circuit Vacates § 924 Convictions Based on Davis, by Anthony Accurso
22. Safe Interactions Between Police and Citizens, by Edward Lyon
23. Fifth Circuit Reiterates Diligence Under AEDPA Requires Consideration of Actions Both Before and After Filing of Habeas Petition, by Dale Chappell
24. 9th Circuit Says Inadvertently Placing Closed Folding Knife on Teller Counter Not Armed Bank Robbery, by Anthony Accurso
25. Oregon Supreme Court Reaffirms ‘Independent Evidence Rule’ for Accomplice Testimony, by Mark Wilson
26. Groundbreaking Connecticut Law Tracks Information on Jailhouse Snitches
27. Fifth Circuit: First Step Act Doesn’t Permit Plenary Resentencing in Retroactive Application of the Fair Sentencing Act, by Douglas Ankney
28. California Court of Appeal Explains Procedures to Determine Appropriate Relief When Conviction Is Vacated Based on People v. Chiu and Senate Bill 1437, by Douglas Ankney
29. Connecticut Supreme Court Rules 5 Days Past Due on Rent While Incarcerated Does Not Deprive Defendant of Expectation of Privacy in Home, by Anthony Accurso
30. New Hampshire Ends Death Penalty, by Jayson Hawkins
31. Fourth Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Pre-Trial State Prisoner on Double Jeopardy Grounds, by Dale Chappell
32. Tennessee Supreme Court Abandons Doctrine of Abatement Ab Initio, by David Reutter
33. New Jersey Supreme Court Announces New Test to Determine When State May Obtain Second DNA Sample After Unlawfully Obtained First Sample, by Douglas Ankney
34. Fourth Circuit Reviews for Plain Error and Vacates Brandishing a Firearm Conviction Obtained Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(C)(3), by Douglas Ankney
35. Fifth Circuit: Practices of Orleans Parish Judges in Collecting Fines and Fees Violates Due Process, by Douglas Ankney
36. Tens of Thousands of Sentencing Decisions Are Hidden Within PACER, Hindering Access by Lawyers and Defendants, by Dale Chappell
37. Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Probationer Must Violate Specific Condition of Probation or Commit New Crime to Be Found in Violation, by Douglas Ankney
38. Seventh Circuit Reverses Convictions Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c); Holds Underlying Offenses Do Not Qualify as ‘Crimes of Violence’, by Matthew Clarke
39. Businesses Are Focusing More and More on Aiding Offenders Reentering Society, by Kevin Bliss
40. Qualified Immunity: Explained, by Emily Clark, Amir H. Ali
41. The Mass Incarceration Epidemic Viewed Through a Young Daughter’s Eyes, by Hayley Schulman
42. Prosecutors Working to Clear Wrongful Convictions With Mixed Results, by Bill Barton

More from Douglas Ankney:

• Tenth Circuit Upholds Nearly $8.8 Million Judgment 
for Utah Jail Death, June 1, 2025
• $1.2 Million in Settlements Reached in Suit Over Sacramento Jail Murder, May 1, 2025
• Eleventh Circuit Revives Volunteer Pastor’s First Amendment Claim at Georgia Jail, May 1, 2025
• Wellpath Sanctioned for Discovery Violation in Suit Over Kentucky Prisoner’s Death, May 1, 2025
• Second Circuit Revives Connecticut Prisoner’s Challenge To Conditions In Virginia Lockup Where He Was Transferred, May 1, 2025
• Missouri Pays More Than $1.2 Million for Deputy Warden’s Sexual Harassment Claim Against Warden, May 1, 2025
• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt? Fingerprint Evidence’s Troubling Flaws, April 15, 2025
• Connecticut Supreme Court Announces Teague’s ‘Watershed’ Rule Exception to Nonretroactivity of New Constitutional Rule of Criminal Procedure on Collateral Review Has ‘Continued Vitality’ in Connecticut, Adoption of Third Exception to Teague’s Nonretroacti, April 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit: District Court Erred in Imposing ‘Managerial Role’ Enhancement Under Guidelines § 3B1.1(b) Without Making ‘Particularized Findings’ Regarding Scope of Criminal Activity and Number of Participants as Required by Guidelines §1B1.1, April 15, 2025
• Tenth Circuit Stretches PLRA to Deny Claim of Colorado Prisoner Shot by Guard While Shackled, April 1, 2025

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.