More from this issue:

1. Police State: From Social Justice to Social Dominance, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
2. Sixth Circuit Vacates Firearms Possession Conviction; Government Showed Jury Unauthenticated Prejudicial Facebook Video Not Admitted as Evidence, by Matthew Clarke
3. Tenth Circuit: Deputy ‘Trying to Help’ Doesn’t Make Search Permissible Under Community Caretaking Exception to Warrant Requirement, by Douglas Ankney
4. Attacking the Guilty Plea: Establishing Prejudice in the Guilty Plea Context, by Dale Chappell
5. Report Finds NYPD Officers Accidentally Deploy Tasers 25% of the Time, by Douglas Ankney
6. California Supreme Court: § 459.5(b) Prohibits Charging Shoplifting and Theft for Same Property, by Douglas Ankney
7. Fourth Circuit: IAC for Counsel’s Bad Advice That Open Plea Would Allow Appeal Denial of Motion to Suppress, by Dale Chappell
8. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: GPS Monitoring Unreasonable When It Doesn’t Further Any Governmental Interest, by Douglas Ankney
9. D.C. Circuit Reverses Nearly 50-Year-Old Murder Conviction Over Faulty Hair Evidence, by Dale Chappell
10. Minnesota Supreme Court: Non-Identifying Information About CI Must Be Disclosed Upon Request, by Anthony Accurso
11. Michigan Supreme Court Announces Court Must Inform Defendant of Consecutive Sentencing Authority When Accepting Plea, by David Reutter
12. Seventh Circuit Reverses Denial of Motion to Suppress Because Police Lacked Reasonable Suspicion to Frisk, by Douglas Ankney
13. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Officer’s Handling of Cellphone Exceeded Scope of Inventory Search, by Anthony Accurso
14. FOIA Redaction Limbo: How Low They Will Go, by Edward Lyon
15. U.S. District Court Chooses Judicial Remedy, Instead of § 2255, to Allow Out-of-Time Appeal, by Dale Chappell
16. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Abused Discretion Denying Compassionate Release Where Statutory Criteria Are Met, by Dale Chappell
17. Colorado Supreme Court: Warrant Allowing General Search of Cellphone Unconstitutional Violation of Particularity Requirement, by Douglas Ankney
18. Eleventh Circuit Holds Georgia Terroristic Threats Conviction Overbroad for ACCA, by Dale Chappell
19. Policing is irrelevant for public safety — but these alternatives are proven to work, by Justin Podur/Independent Media Institute, AlterNet.com
20. Myth of Technology as an Equalizing Force in Criminal Justice, by Anthony Accurso
21. Fourth Circuit Requests Further Information on Stingray Device to Determine Whether It Violates Fourth Amendment Rights, by Anthony Accurso
22. Kansas Supreme Court: District Court Failed to Apprise Defendant of Right to Jury Trial, by Douglas Ankney
23. Oklahoma Enacts Jailhouse Informant Law, Joins Other States, by Dale Chappell
24. South Carolina Supreme Court Overturns Murder Conviction Where State Presented Improper Testimony Regarding Trace DNA Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
25. Iowa Supreme Court Announces That ‘Good Cause’ in Newly Amended Appeals Statute Means ‘a Legally Sufficient Reason’, by Douglas Ankney
26. Two New Forensic DNA Standards Added to the OSAC Registry
27. South Carolina Supreme Court: State Cannot Appeal Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
28. Big Brother, as Well as Big Business, Are Tracking You: the Snitch in Your Own Pocket, Purse, or Belt Holder, by Edward Lyon
29. Neuroscience and Criminal Cases, by Jayson Hawkins
30. Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction on Double Jeopardy Grounds, by Douglas Ankney
31. Eighth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief Decades After Conviction Because Prosecutor Destroyed Evidence Prior to Trial, by Dale Chappell
32. Eleventh Circuit Vacates Firearm Conviction Based on Rehaif, by Douglas Ankney
33. Washington Supreme Court: Defendant Detained for Search at Border Was ‘In Custody’ for Miranda Purposes, by Douglas Ankney
34. Fourth Circuit: Erroneous Career Offender Sentence Correctable in First Step Act Resentencing, by Dale Chappell
35. Never Convicted but Never Exonerated, Either, by Edward Lyon
36. Government Study Finds Facial Recognition Sorely Lacking in Accuracy, by Dale Chappell
37. Idaho Exoneree Fights for Wrongful Conviction Compensation, by Edward Lyon
38. Fifth Circuit Clarifies AEDPA Time Limit Tolling for Louisiana Prisoners Filing Federal Habeas Corpus, by Dale Chappell
39. Missouri Shows Indifference to Human Life by Proceeding with Execution Amid Pandemic, by Douglas Ankney
40. Dogs Can Detect One-Billionth of a Teaspoon of Gasoline, by Douglas Ankney
41. Fulton County Prosecutor in Georgia to Expunge MLK and Other Civil Rights Leaders’ Records, But not Everyone Agrees, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
42. FBI Provides Fitness App in Exchange for Users’ GPS Coordinates, by Douglas Ankney
43. Survey: California Cops Abusing Privacy Rights with Auto Plate Readers, by Jayson Hawkins
44. Devastating Consequences of Chicago Gang Database – And No Way to Be Removed, by Bill Barton
45. Strategies to Help Police Address Citizens With Special Needs, by Anthony Accurso
46. New Method to Determine Time of Death for Forensic Investigators, by Kevin Bliss
47. Using Doctor-Prescribed Marijuana Could Send Some People Back to Prison, by Douglas Ankney
48. Small Forensics Lab Finds Niche in Analyzing Tiniest Bits of Evidence, by Dale Chappell
49. Unrest After Kentucky Cops Shoot Sleeping Black Woman to Death in Her Bed While Serving No-Knock Warrant, by Edward Lyon
50. Minnesota Lab Figures Out How to Tell Between Legal Hemp and Illegal Marijuana, by Dale Chappell
51. $8 Million Settlement for Wrongfully Convicted and Imprisoned Missouri Man, by Kevin Bliss
52. Police Use of Robotic Technology Raises Civil Liberty Concerns, by Douglas Ankney
53. New York Police Act With Impunity During Protests, by Kevin Bliss
54. News in Brief

More from Douglas Ankney:

• The Trial Penalty: How America Abandoned the Right to Trial, Nov. 15, 2025
• Third Circuit Upholds Award of $265,000 to Prisoner 
Who Was Sexually Assaulted Twice by the Same Guard, Aug. 1, 2025
• Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA, Aug. 1, 2025
• $340,000 for Former Massachusetts Prisoner 
Whose Baby Was Stillborn, July 15, 2025
• New Jersey Supreme Court Refuses Guard’s Challenge to Firing 
for Failing to Report Kiss with Prisoner, July 15, 2025
• New York City Loses Bid to Withhold Jail Records, July 15, 2025
• Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference 
Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim 
for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds, July 15, 2025
• Washington Jail Settles DOJ Allegations of ADA Noncompliance 
in Failure to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, July 15, 2025
• Ohio Supreme Court Says Sheriff Must Get and Disclose 
Records of Private Contractors, July 15, 2025
• Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission 
Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• Nevada Supreme Court: Theft Offenses and Possessing or Receiving Stolen Property Offenses Are Mutually Exclusive and Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Conviction for Both Offenses When Based on Same Conduct, March 15, 2025. Double jeopardy, Theft, Stolen Property.
• California Court of Appeal Vacates Sentence Where Trial Court Imposed Sentence Under ‘One Strike’ Enhancement Statute Enacted After Crimes Were Committed, March 15, 2025. Battered Child/Spouse Evidence, Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Exploitation.
• Illinois Supreme Court Announces Dismissal by Nolle Prosequi as Part of Agreement Bars State From Bringing Second Prosecution Where Defendant Satisfied Obligations and Reverses Empire Actor Jussie Smollett’s Conviction, Dec. 15, 2024. Double jeopardy, Breach of Plea/Coop./Immunity Agreements, Dismissal, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
• Rhode Island Supreme Court Holds Temporal Requirement of ‘Recent Fabrication’ Exception to Hearsay Rule Not Satisfied and Scribbled Note Made by Child Victim of Sexual Abuse Years After Alleged Events Not ‘Excited Utterance’, Oct. 1, 2024. Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Sexual Abuse - Aggravated, Fabrication of Evidence, Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Exploitation, Hearsay Evidence.
• Colorado Supreme Court Announces First Degree Criminal Trespass of Dwelling Is Lesser-Included Offense of Second Degree Burglary, Explicitly Overruling Garcia, and Merger Is Remedy for Double Jeopardy Sentencing Error, July 15, 2024. Double jeopardy, Resentencing.
• SCOTUS: Reiterates Jury Verdict of Acquittal for Any Reason Bars Retrial Under Double Jeopardy Clause of Fifth Amendment, May 15, 2024. Double jeopardy.
• Federal Sentencing Guidelines Undergo Substantial Amendments, Jan. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, First Step Act, Violence Against Women Act, Criminal History, Qualifying Offenses, Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Exploitation, Sexual Exploitation of Minors, Federally Protected Rights, Sexual Conduct with Minors, Sentences - Authorized, Safety Valve, Acceptance of Responsibility, Preservation of Judicial Resources, Legal or Factual Challenges - assertion of.
• New Mexico Supreme Court Clarifies When Reviewing Double Jeopardy Claims, Court to Apply Blockburger’s Strict-Elements Test or Modified Strict-Elements Test—Not Both, Jan. 15, 2024. Double jeopardy.
• Fourth Circuit Revives Virginia Prisoner’s Challenge to Discipline for Allegedly Sexually Harassing Guard, July 15, 2023. Guard Misconduct, Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Exploitation.
• British Prison Guard Sentenced to 14 months For Sexting and Sending Photos in Her Underwear to Prisoners, Nov. 18, 2022. Guard Misconduct, Text Messages, Sexual Abuse/Harrassment/Exploitation.