More from this issue:

1. North Carolina Supreme Court Announces Harbison Applies When Defense Counsel Implies Defendant’s Guilt Without Prior Consent, by Douglas Ankney
2. Revocation Nation: Reincarceration for Technical Parole Violations in the Age of COVID-19, by Jean Trounstine
3. Federal Habeas Corpus: Time Limits for Filing, by Dale Chappell
4. First Circuit Announces Residual Clause of U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2) When Applied Pre-Booker Is Unconstitutional Under Johnson, by Douglas Ankney
5. Why Coroners Often Blame Police Killings on a Made-Up Medical Condition, by Samantha Michaels
6. Cincinnati Police Department Agrees to Audit of Its DNA Database, by Douglas Ankney
7. Fourth and Fifth Circuits Reopen Decades-Old Cases for Habeas Relief Due to Brady Violations, by Dale Chappell
8. Time to Curb Police Unions, by Bill Barton
9. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Brady Requires Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Revealed During Immunized Testimony Before Grand Jury, by Douglas Ankney
10. Eighth Circuit Vacates Sentence After District Judge 
Interfered With Plea Negotiations and Made Disparaging 
Remarks About Federal Judiciary, by Douglas Ankney
11. Mississippi Supreme Court: Cannot Declare Mistrial on All Counts After Jury’s Acquittal on Some Counts, by Anthony Accurso
12. California Court of Appeal Reverses Murder Conviction Because Superior Court Erred by Allowing Deceased’s Out-of-Court Statements Into Evidence, by Douglas Ankney
13. From the Editors
14. New Report Shows More Than Half of Wrongful Convictions Involved Misconduct by Police and Prosecutors, by Dale Chappell
15. Hawai’i Supreme Court Announces Admissibility of Third-Party Culpability Evidence Is Same Relevancy Test That’s Applied for Other Evidence, Superseding Rabellizsa, by Douglas Ankney
16. Seventh Circuit: Prior Conviction Under Overbroad State Drug Statute May Be Used in Career Criminal Enhancement But Not For Prior Drug Crimes Enhancement, by Matthew Clarke
17. Fifth Circuit: Consecutive Sentence for FTA Must Be Part of ‘Total Punishment,’ Not Merely a Stacked Sentence
18. Second Circuit: Nondescript Photo of Unidentified Black Male Insufficient Grounds to Conduct Investigatory Stop, by Anthony Accurso
19. Colorado Supreme Court: Felony DUI Conviction Requires ‘Mandatory Sentencing’ Triggering Right to Preliminary Hearing, by Anthony Accurso
20. Sixth Circuit Vacates First Step Act 
Resentencing Denial Where Court Failed 
to Consider Post-Sentencing Conduct, by Anthony Accurso
21. Montana Supreme Court: Renter’s Privacy Not Diminished By Landlord’s Probationary Status, by Anthony Accurso
22. Federal Judges Beginning to Reject Geofence Warrants, by Anthony Accurso
23. Fifth Circuit: Safety Valve Isn’t Up to the Government, by Dale Chappell
24. Maine Supreme Court: SORNA Ruled Ex Post Facto Punishment for Defendant, by Anthony Accurso
25. Seventh Circuit: Incompetent Advice to Reject Plea Offer Requires Evidentiary Hearing, by David M. Reutter
26. New Hampshire Supreme Court Announces Adoption of Lafler When Reviewing IAC Claims in Plea Bargain Cases, by Douglas Ankney
27. Colorado Supreme Court: Convictions for Murder and Attempted Murder Violate Double Jeopardy, by Douglas Ankney
28. Third Circuit Announces Resentencing Under First Step Act Requires Use of § 3553(a) Factors, by Dale Chappell
29. Kansas Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Where Trial Court Refused to Give Self-Defense Instruction, by Douglas Ankney
30. Ninth Circuit: California Conviction Under § 261.5(c) Not Predicate Offense For § 2252(b)(1) Enhancement, by Anthony Accurso
31. COVID-19 Has Profound Effect on Breadth and Scope of Law Enforcement Agencies, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
32. Sixth Circuit Vacates Sentence Where Upward Variance Based on Criminal History Had Little Bearing on Instant Offense, by Douglas Ankney
33. Washington Supreme Court Announces Prohibition Against Blanket Shackling Policies at Pretrial Proceedings, by Anthony Accurso
34. Second Circuit Announces Compassionate Release Motion by Prisoner Not Constrained by Outdated Guideline § 1B1.13, Application Note 1(D), by Dale Chappell
35. Colorado Supreme Court Holds Successfully Completed Deferred Judgment Does Not Count as Conviction Barring Relief From Sex Offender Registration, by Matthew Clarke
36. $12 Million Settlement Against Louisville, Kentucky, by Edward Lyon
37. Review Board Has No Power Over NYPD, by Kevin Bliss
38. Shielding Police Identities: A Law That Cuts Both Ways, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
39. Exodus of a Baker’s Dozen, by Edward Lyon
40. PBA Cards and the Problem with Police Discretion, by Jayson Hawkins
41. Proliferation of Police Drones Feeds Big Brother’s Need for Big Data, by Anthony Accurso
42. For-Profit Lexipol Takes Over Writing Departmental Policy for Public Safety, by Kevin Bliss
43. Thirty-Fourth Conviction Based on Bite Mark Forensics Overturned, by Kevin Bliss
44. Guilt by Google, by Jayson Hawkins
45. Technology and Police Reform, by Anthony Accurso
46. Would the Real Officer Friendly Please Stand Up?, by Casey Bastian
47. Government Enforcers Are Still Cops, by Jayson Hawkins
48. News in Brief

More from Anthony Accurso:

• The Systematic Terror of Rankin County’s “Goon Squad”, May 1, 2026
• Virginia Prisoners Stuck Waiting for Education Programs, Feb. 1, 2026
• $939,000 for Nevada Prisoner Left in Wheelchair by Delayed Back Pain Treatment, Jan. 1, 2026
• Ninth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Plea Agreement’s Factual Basis, Holding Unaccepted “Type A” Plea Agreement Unenforceable to Trigger Waiver of Rule 410 Protections, Dec. 15, 2025
• America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, Nov. 1, 2025
• Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, Nov. 1, 2025
• Protecting Your Digital Privacy, Oct. 15, 2025
• Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, Oct. 15, 2025
• Michigan Supreme Court Announces Guidance on Standards for Search Warrants of Cellphones to Satisfy Particularity Requirement of Fourth Amendment That “Reasonably Direct” Search to Uncovering Evidence of Criminal Activity Identified in Warrant, Oct. 15, 2025
• Sixth Circuit: Erlinger Error Requires Resentencing Where Government Cannot Prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Jury Would Find Prior Offenses Committed on Different “Occasions”, Oct. 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• Michigan Supreme Court Announces Betts Decision Invalidating 2011 SORA as Ex Post Facto Punishment Applies Retroactively to Defendants on Collateral Review, July 1, 2026. Sex Offender Registration, Retroactivity, Ex Post Facto, Constitution, state, Constitutional Challenges/Law.
• Sixth Circuit Announces Federal Coercion and Enticement Statute Requires Knowledge of Victim’s Minor Status, Deepening Circuit Split, May 1, 2026. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Sentence, Miscalculation of the Guidelines Sentencing Range.
• Fifth Circuit Holds Texas Sexual Assault of a Child Statute Sweeps More Broadly Than Federal SORNA Tier Offenses, March 1, 2026. Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Qualifying Offenses, Plain Error, Elements of Offense, Miscalculation of the Guidelines Sentencing Range.
• SCOTUS Announces MVRA Restitution Constitutes Criminal Punishment Subject to Ex Post Facto Clause Protections, Feb. 1, 2026. Ex Post Facto, Restitution, Constitution, U.S., Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
• Third Circuit Announces “Commencement of the Instant Offense” in Guidelines § 4A1.2(e) Unambiguously Refers Only to Specific Offense of Conviction, Not Relevant Conduct, Nov. 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration, Adequacy of Criminal History Category, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
• SCOTUS Overturns Oklahoma Prisoner’s Death Sentence After More than 25 Years on Death Row, Nov. 1, 2025. Ex Post Facto, Good Time, Wrongful Conviction, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Pardons/Clemency, First Step Act, Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), Specific Offenses, Controlled Substances, Weapons, Accuracy of Information, Depraved Indifference Murder, Evidence - Circumstantial, Theft, Failure to Disclose, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, New Trial - Motions for, Pleas Linked to Cooperation, Evidence - Destruction/Fabrication/Manipulation of, Selective Prosecution/Enforcement, Improper Comments, Official Report, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
• Florida Appeals Court Finds Rationale for “Sexual Predator” Label on Former Prisoner’s Drivers License, Oct. 1, 2025. Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Sexually Dangerous Persons/Sexual Violent Predators, Prisoners' Rights.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Commonwealth Must Prove Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Offender Knew of SORNA Registration Obligations for Failure to Register Conviction, March 15, 2025. Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Unreasonable Application of Clearly Established Federal Law.
• Federal Court Rules Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Laws Violate Constitution, Dec. 1, 2024. Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, Restrictions, discrimination, Constitutional Challenges/Law.
• California Court of Appeal Announces Crime Defendant ‘Was Convicted’ of, Not Crime ‘Could Have Been Convicted’ of Today, Governs Eligibility for Removal From Sex Offender Registry, Oct. 1, 2024. Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.