More from this issue:

1. News in Brief
2. Cops Killed Nearly 13 Times More People Than Mass Shooters, by Bill Barton
3. U.S. District Judge Blows Open ATF Fake Stash-House Stings, Wants to Know Why They Only Target Minorities, by Dale Chappell
4. New Jersey Tightens Reins on Civil Asset Forfeiture, by Douglas Ankney
5. Nevada Supreme Court: 26-Month Delay Between Charges and Arrest Constitutes Speedy Trial Violation, by Anthony Accurso
6. New York to Seal Convictions for Small Amounts of Marijuana
7. Warrant Gives Police Access to DNA Database, by Jayson Hawkins
8. Rhode Island Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Due to Prosecutor’s Remarks and Jury Consideration of Inadmissible Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
9. Colorado Supreme Court Announces Implied Bias the Same as Actual Juror Bias, Requiring Automatic Reversal, by Anthony Accurso
10. Racial Disparity at Sentencing on the Rise, by Anthony Accurso
11. NYC Drug Prosecutor Bucks Trend of Releasing List of Cops with Credibility Issues, by Douglas Ankney
12. Louisiana Supreme Court: State Abused Charging Authority by Dismissing and Reinstituting Charges to Circumvent Adverse Court Ruling, by Anthony Accurso
13. Jury Nullification as a Cure for Prosecutorial Overreach, by Anthony Accurso
14. New Lie Detectors Are On the Way, But Are They Better Than the Old One?, by Anthony Accurso
15. California Supreme Court: Positioning Computer Monitor to Obstruct Defendant’s View of Complaining Witness Violates Confrontation Clause, by Douglas Ankney
16. Ohio Supreme Court: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Analysis Applies to Failure to Seek Waiver of Court Costs, by David M. Reutter
17. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Police Must Inform Arrested Driver That Passenger Can Assume Custody of Vehicle if Lawful and Practical as Alternative to Impoundment, by Douglas Ankney
18. California Court of Appeal: Hunch That Proves Correct Is Not Reasonable Suspicion for Traffic Stop, by Douglas Ankney
19. Sex Offenders Go to W.A.R., by Edward Lyon
20. New Orleans Sheriff’s Office Tracked Cellphones Absent Warrants, by Chad Marks
21. Nevada Supreme Court: Duress Defense May be Used for Non-Death Penalty Charges, Even When Connected to Charges Punishable by Death, by Dale Chappell
22. Reform-Minded Prosecutors Use Charging Discretion to Benefit Communities, by Anthony Accurso
23. Kansas Supreme Court: Claim of Illegal Sentence Raised for First Time on Appeal Entitled to Merits Review, by Michael Berk
24. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds Retention of Defendant’s ID Card Constitutes ‘Seizure’ for Fourth Amendment Purposes, by Dale Chappell
25. Sex Offender Registries Grounded in False Notions, by Anthony Accurso
26. Third Circuit Holds ‘Bare’ Arrest Record Insufficient to Support Higher Sentence, by Dale Chappell
27. Fact or Fiction, Television Crime Shows Ignore Racism and Reality, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
28. The Faulty Science of Breathalyzers, by Jayson Hawkins
29. Sixth Circuit: Ohio’s Stringent Post-Conviction Filing Deadline Opens Window for Federal Review Under Trevino, by Anthony Accurso
30. Maryland Court of Appeals Announces, When Requested, Trial Courts Must Ask During Voir Dire Whether Jurors Will Follow Court’s Instructions on Presumption of Innocence, Burden of Proof, and Right Not to Testify, by Douglas Ankney
31. Louisiana Supreme Court: When an Identified Attorney Seeks to Assist a Person in Custody and Police Fail to Inform the Person, Inculpatory Statements Must Be Suppressed, by Douglas Ankney
32. D.C. Circuit: 18 U.S.C. § 1114 Does Not Apply Overseas But § 924(c) Does, by Douglas Ankney
33. Third Circuit: Confrontation Clause Violated When Jury Is Told ‘Other Guy’ Referenced in Non-Testifying Codefendant’s Statement Is the Defendant, by Douglas Ankney
34. Georgia Supreme Court Overrules 50 Years of Jurisprudence and Announces Courts Are to Consider Cumulative Prejudice of Trial Court and Counsel Errors, by Douglas Ankney
35. Ninth Circuit Orders Habeas Relief After California Concedes Conviction Should Be Overturned Due to Defense Counsel’s ‘Virulent Racism’, by Douglas Ankney
36. Michigan Supreme Court: Defendant Entitled to Self-defense Jury Instruction, by David M. Reutter
37. Seventh Circuit Holds Brain Injury May Allow Equitable Tolling to File Late Habeas Petition, by Dale Chappell
38. Life Sentence for Murder Overturned by New DNA Technology, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
39. Expert’s Burn-Pattern Conclusions Flawed, by David M. Reutter
40. New York’s SARA Requirements Force Sex-Offenders into Homelessness Then Hold Them in Prison Due to Their Homelessness, by Kevin Bliss
41. Law Review Article Zeros in on Roadblocks to Plea Bargain Fairness and Effectiveness, by David M. Reutter
42. Kansas Supreme Court: State Failed to Prove Building Was a Dwelling, by Douglas Ankney
43. Maine Supreme Court Declares Blood Draw Statute Unconstitutional, Overruling Cormier, by Douglas Ankney
44. Utah District Court Finds First Step Act Gives Court Authority to Reduce Stacked 55-Year § 924(c) Sentence, by Chad Marks
45. Seventh Circuit Vacates Guilty Pleas Based on Misinformation of Mandatory Minimum, by David M. Reutter
46. More Trainings Are Not the Answer to Police Violence Against Disabled People, by Euree Kim
47. Sixth Circuit Adopts ‘Naked Eye Test’ for Altered Firearm Serial Number Enhancement, by Dale Chappell
48. Connecticut Supreme Court Clarifies Standard of Review for Confrontation Clause Claims; Reverses and Remands for a New Trial, by Douglas Ankney
49. Spirited (But Problematic?) Advocacy for Bernie Madoff to Receive Compassionate Relief, by Professor Douglas A. Berman
50. Iowa Supreme Court: Officer’s Delay of Traffic Stop to Investigate Other Matters Unconstitutional, by David M. Reutter
51. The Rise of Smart Camera Networks, and Why We Should Ban Them, by Michael Kwet

More from Douglas Ankney:

• Barbaric and Deadly Conditions Continue to Plague Los Angeles County Jails, Feb. 1, 2026
• Killings Inside Mississippi’s Prisons Continue Unabated But Report Prompts DOC to Reopen Investigations, Feb. 1, 2026
• Competency Crisis in Missouri’s Jails, Feb. 1, 2026
• Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Trial Courts Must Rigorously Scrutinize Reliability of Expert Testimony in Unrecognized Forensic Fields, Holding Trial Court Erred in Admitting Forensic Podiatry Footprint-Comparison Testimony Without a Demonstrated, Feb. 1, 2026
• Ninth Circuit: Notice of Appeal of Order Denying Qualified Immunity Must Be Filed Within 30 Days of Entry, Feb. 1, 2026
• Illinois Supreme Court Announces Six-Element Jeffries Test Governs Self-Defense Jury Instructions in Cases Involving Force Against Police Officers, Rejecting Appellate Court Approaches That Either Created Separate Threshold Inquiry or Automatically Requir, Feb. 1, 2026
• Supreme Court of Maryland Announces Police Officer’s Observation of Driver Manipulating Cellphone Screen Does Not, Without Additional Facts, Establish Reasonable Suspicion for Traffic Stop Under Fourth Amendment, Feb. 1, 2026
• Fifth Circuit Rules Against Louisiana Prisoner Seeking to Recoup Money Made at Angola Prison Rodeo, Jan. 1, 2026
• Report on “Pay-­to-­Stay” Fees Makes Strong Case for Their Repeal, Jan. 1, 2026
• Maryland Agrees to Pay $30,000 to Prisoner Who Was Beaten by Guards While Handcuffed, Jan. 1, 2026

More from these topics:

• SCOTUS Clarifies Emergency-Aid Home Entries Require Only an “Objectively Reasonable Basis for Believing” an Occupant Faces Serious Danger, Rejecting a Probable-Cause Standard and Montana’s Terry-Like Caretaker Test, Feb. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Probable Cause, Exigent Circumstances, Warrantless Searches, Motions To Suppress.
• Flock’s Gunshot Sensors Are Expanding to “Distress” Sounds, Feb. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Recordings, Privacy Act/Rights.
• Massive $112 Million Jury Verdict for Detainees Held in New York Jail Past Release Date on ICE Detainers, Jan. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Detention - Generally, Unlawful Detention, Immunity - Sovereign/Municipal, Damages - Compensatory.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court): No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Unprotected Google Searches, Jan. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Probable Cause, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Privacy Act/Rights, State Constitutional Claims.
• Ninth Circuit Announces Abandonment Doctrine Applies to Cellphones but Courts Must Analyze Intent to Abandon Device Separately From Intent to Abandon Data, Dec. 15, 2025. Fourth Amendment, rights, Cell-Phones, Motions To Suppress, Digital Devices, Seizure.
• For Delay in Summoning Medical Care for Detainees, Alabama Jailers Granted Immunity But California Trooper Headed to Trial, Nov. 1, 2025. Failure to Treat, Qualified Immunity, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Fourth Amendment, rights, Deliberate Indifference.
• Drones and License Plate Readers: Police Creating Warrantless Aerial Surveillance Networks, Oct. 15, 2025. Fourth Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Warrantless Searches, Curtilege, Electronic Surveillance.
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Police Cannot Execute Anticipatory Warrant Absent Triggering Event Regardless of Whether Factual Allegations in Warrant Affidavit Independently Give Rise to Probable Cause to Search, Thereby Providing Greater, Oct. 15, 2025. Search warrants, Fourth Amendment, rights, Probable Cause, Execution, State Constitutional Claims.
• How to Build a Human; A Forensics Company Tells Cops It Can Use DNA to Predict a Suspect’s Face. Scientists Worry the Tool Will Deepen Racial Bias., Sept. 15, 2025. Forensic Sciences, Fourth Amendment, rights, DNA Evidence, Advanced Imaging Technology.
• Colorado Supreme Court Announces Police Facilitating 
Drug-­Detection Dog’s Entry Into Vehicle by Opening Door 
During Traffic Stop Without Probable Cause Is Unconstitutional Search in Violation of Fourth Amendment, July 1, 2025. Fourth Amendment, rights, Drug-Sniffing Dog, Automobile Searches/Seizures.