More from this issue:

1. SCOTUS ‘Shadow Docket’ Secretly Pushes Agendas, Issues Major Rulings Without Argument or Public Knowledge, by Dale Chappell
2. The Junk Science Cops Use to Decide You’re Lying, by Jordan Smith
3. From the Editors
4. California Court of Appeal Grants Habeas Relief Over Failure to Instruct Jury on ‘Heat of Passion’, by Dale Chappell
5. Attacking the Guilty Plea: The Art of Withdrawing a Guilty Plea, by Dale Chappell
6. Fourth Circuit: Releasee Under First Step Act Can’t ‘Bank’ Extra Time Spent in Prison Toward Future Supervised Release Violation, by Dale Chappell
7. New Hampshire Supreme Court Announces Defendant Not Required to Identify Evidentiary Support for Noticed Defense, by Douglas Ankney
8. Sixth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Grant of Summary Judgment to Defendants in § 1983 Suit Against City and Police Officers, by Douglas Ankney
9. Ninth Circuit Clarifies Use of Rule 60(b) for Changes in Law, by Dale Chappell
10. Nebraska Supreme Court Announces Remand for New Sentencing Hearing Appropriate Remedy for Enhanced Vehicular Homicide Sentence Without Evidence of Prior Convictions, by Douglas Ankney
11. Study Exposes Public Defender Plea Negotiation Practices and Suggests New Negotiation Theory, by David Reutter
12. Colorado Supreme Court Announces New Rules for Awarding Presentencing Credit, by Anthony Accurso
13. Government Agencies Expand Use of Private Companies to Bypass Constitution, by Casey Bastian
14. California Supreme Court Announces New Time Limit for Habeas ‘Appeal’ Stages, Clarifying Tolling for Federal Habeas Petitioners, by Dale Chappell
15. Defense Officials: Law Enforcement in Military Garb not Appropriate, by Casey Bastian
16. Justice Sotomayor Raises Due Process Concerns Over Eleventh Circuit’s Use of Published Successive Habeas Denial Orders, by Dale Chappell
17. South Carolina Supreme Court: Failure to Give Logan Instruction Not Harmless Error Where Evidence Almost Entirely Circumstantial, by Douglas Ankney
18. Seventh Circuit: District Court Abused Discretion by Denying Relief Without First Considering Recalculations Under First Step Act, by Douglas Ankney
19. Colorado Supreme Court: Prosecution Prohibited From Arguing Defendant’s Failure to Retreat Showed Lack of Fear, Undermining Claim of Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
20. Arizona Supreme Court Announces Cumulative Error Framework for Reviewing Multiple Instances of Prosecutorial Misconduct, by Douglas Ankney
21. California Supreme Court Vacates LWOP Sentence After Its Recent Cases Clarifying ‘Special Circumstance’ Murder, by Dale Chappell
22. Indiana Supreme Court: Must Be Immediate Causal Connection Between Confrontation and Other Crime by Defendant to Negate Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
23. Seventh Circuit: Sentences for ‘Non-Covered’ Offenses Can Also Be Reduced Under First Step Act, by Dale Chappell
24. Ninth Circuit: Police Violate Fourth Amendment Executing Administrative Warrant Where Primary Purpose Is Gathering Evidence for Criminal Investigation, by Douglas Ankney
25. Interactions Between Diabetics and Law Enforcement Can Become Life-Threatening, by Casey Bastian
26. Fourth Circuit Grants ‘SOS’ § 2254 Petition Attacking Three-Decade-Old Murder Conviction Based on New Evidence, by Dale Chappell
27. Washington Federal Court: Looking at Lock Phone Screen Requires Warrant, by Anthony Accurso
28. North Carolina Supreme Court: Defendant Can’t Be Convicted of Both Habitual Misdemeanor Assault and Felony Assault for Same Act, by Douglas Ankney
29. Michigan Supreme Court: Probation Compliance Check During Unlawfully Extended Probation Was Unauthorized Warrantless Search, by Matthew Clarke
30. Medical Experts Publish Guidelines on SUDC, by Douglas Ankney
31. Successful Alternatives to Armed Police Response, by Edward Lyon
32. Tenth Circuit: District Court Plainly Erred in Giving Erroneous Constructive Possession of Firearm Instruction, Conviction Reversed, by Douglas Ankney
33. Second Circuit: District Court’s Failure to Offer Explanation for Its Sentence Constitutes Plain Error, by Douglas Ankney
34. Maryland Court of Appeals Announces Reasonableness Standard in Providing Advice of Rights to Non-English Speaking Drivers, by David Reutter
35. SCOTUS Goes Live on Camera, by Jayson Hawkins
36. Seventh Circuit: Rehaif Creates Defense and Invalidates Defendant’s Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
37. Chicago’s Police Torture Reparations, by Jayson Hawkins
38. New Jersey Supreme Court: Juror Excused After Partial Verdict Requires Mistrial on Remaining Counts, by Dale Chappell
39. Policing and Racial Bias, by Kevin Bliss
40. How COVID-19 Forces New Releasees Into ‘Survival Mode’, by Dale Chappell
41. From Detroit: How Not to Use Facial Recognition in Policing, by Anthony Accurso
42. New Colorado Law Kills Qualified Immunity for Cops, by Dale Chappell
43. When Police Caught Lying, the Spin Begins, by Edward Lyon
44. Minnesota Cops Use Contact Tracing to Track Protestor Networks, by Anthony Accurso
45. Minneapolis: Use of Force Against Blacks 7 Times Higher Than That for Whites, by Kevin Bliss
46. Risk Assessment Tools Perpetuate Inherent Biases and Prejudices, by Kevin Bliss
47. New ‘Barcode’ System Puts DNA Sample to the Authenticity Test, by Anthony Accurso
48. New York Police Act With Impunity During Protests, by Kevin Bliss
49. Police Violence and the 14th Amendment, by Jayson Hawkins
50. Police Unions Buy Their Way Out of Reform, by Kevin Bliss
51. Protecting Your Phone at Protests, by Douglas Ankney
52. 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:

• 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. Cell-Phones, Motions To Suppress, Reasonable Suspicion, Traffic Stops, Terry Stops.
• 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.
• 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. Particularity Requirement, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Cell-Phones, Warrants - General Search, Failure to Preserve Challenge.
• Protect Yourself Against Police Invasion of Your Cellphone, Jan. 15, 2025. Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Cell-Phones.
• Seventh Circuit Announces Search of Cellphone at Border Constitutes Routine Inspection and Does Not Require Warrant, Probable Cause, or Even Individualized Suspicion, Nov. 1, 2024. Enforcement of Immigration Laws, Cell-Phones, Immigration Law/Offenses.
• Cellebrite Asks Law Enforcement Clients to Keep Its Phone Hacking Tech Secret, April 15, 2024. Contractor Misconduct, Cell Phone Access, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Cell-Phones.
• FBI Searches of NSA Data Extended Until April, Despite Admission of Unconstitutionality, March 15, 2024. Government Misconduct, FBI, FISA-Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Police State-Surveillance, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Cell-Phones, Electronic Surveillance, Electronic Communictions Privacy Act.
• Police Can Get More From Your Phone Than You May Believe, Sept. 1, 2023. Police State-Surveillance, Cell-Phones.
• Police Departments’ Purchase of Tracking Tool Collecting Location Data Without a Warrant Raises Fourth Amendment Concerns, Feb. 19, 2023. Police State-Surveillance, Cell-Phones, Cell Site Location Information ("CSLI"), Electronic Surveillance, Fourth Amendment.
• How Law Enforcement Get Past Phone Encryption, Nov. 15, 2021. Cell-Phones.