More from this issue:

1. One More Reason to Dislike Your State’s DMV, by Edward Lyon
2. Trial Penalty: The Harm in Coercive Prosecutorial Tactics and Plea Bargains, by David Reutter
3. Virginia Supreme Court Reverses Concealed Weapon Offense Because Statutory Exception Applied, by Douglas Ankney
4. The Federal Habeas Corpus: Government’s Response and Your Reply, by Dale Chappell
5. The Many Roads to Relief Under Borden, by Dale Chappell
6. Montana Supreme Court: Court Reporter’s Medical Emergency and Judge’s Distress Don’t Constitute Manifest Necessity for Declaring Mistrial, Retrial Violates Double Jeopardy, by Douglas Ankney
7. Arizona Supreme Court: Trial Court’s Failure to Protect Defendant’s Right to Conflict-Free Counsel May Be Raised on Direct Appeal 16 Massachusetts Supreme Court: Error to Exclude Expert Testimony on Significance of Tattoo to Support Claim of Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
8. Virginia Passes Comprehensive Record Clearance Legislation, by Casey Bastian
9. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Error to Exclude Expert Testimony on Significance of Tattoo to Support Claim of Self-Defense, by David Reutter
10. Seventh Circuit: Coworker Cannot Limitlessly Search Defendant’s Office at Direction of FBI, by Anthony Accurso
11. Fourth Circuit Reverses ‘Abusive Language’ Conviction Where Government Failed to Offer Evidence That Racial Slur Tended to Cause Immediate Acts of Violence, by Douglas Ankney
12. Nebraska Supreme Court Reverses Denial of Pretrial Motion for Absolute Discharge on Speedy Trial Grounds, by Matthew Clarke
13. California Court of Appeal Vacates Guilty Plea That Resulted in Legal Fiction, by David Reutter
14. Should Public Defenders Be Tweeting?, by Anthony Accurso
15. California Court of Appeal: When Federal Court Finds Petitioner Satisfies Schlup Standard, Victim Compensation Board Must Recommend Payment of Claim Without Hearing, by Douglas Ankney
16. National Institute of Justice Funds Research to Differentiate Injuries Caused by Child Abuse from Accidental Injuries, by Matthew Clarke
17. Police Funding Reallocated to Community Programs Nationwide, by Casey Bastian
18. Ninth Circuit: Directly Searching Inside Detainee’s Pocket Not a Valid Terry Frisk for Weapons, by Anthony Accurso
19. Atavistic South Carolinians Offer Option of Firing Squad to Condemned Prisoners, by Douglas Ankney
20. Delaware Supreme Court: Substitution Not Allowed for Chain of Custody Witness, by Anthony Accurso
21. Sixth Circuit: District Court May Consider Disparity of Defendant’s Actual Sentence Compared With Sentence Under First Step Act When Additional Factors Present, by Douglas Ankney
22. Eighth Circuit: Plain Error to Impose Destructive-Device Enhancement for .410 Shotgun, by David Reutter
23. Tenth Circuit Reverses Denial of Suppression Motion Because Rationale for Community-Caretaker Exception Unreasonable, by Douglas Ankney
24. Report: NYPD Sold Almost 22,000 of the 55,000 Phones Seized Last Year, by Douglas Ankney
25. SCOTUS: Cady’s ‘Community Caretaking’ Function of Police Doesn’t Create Standalone Doctrine Permitting Warrantless Entry into a Home, by Douglas Ankney
26. Maryland and Montana: First States to Pass Laws Restricting Access to Consumer Genealogy Databases by Law Enforcement, by Casey Bastian
27. South Carolina Supreme Court: Lifetime SORA Registration Requirement Unconstitutional Absent Opportunity for Judicial Review of Risk of Re-offending, by Anthony Accurso
28. It’s No Shock That Tasers Increase Brutality, by Casey Bastian
29. Mississippi Supreme Court: Drug Buy Between Dealer and User Doesn’t Constitute Conspiracy to Distribute, by David Reutter
30. California Court of Appeal Reverses Felony-Murder Conviction Where Sentencing Occurred After SB 1437 Enacted, by Matthew Clarke
31. New Mexico Supreme Court: Constitutional Error to Accept Plea Without Assistance of Counsel, by David Reutter
32. Maryland Enacts Significant Police Reform, Overriding Governor’s Veto, by Jayson Hawkins
33. FBI Subpoenas Media Outlets for Information on Readers of Stories Criticizing Government, by Dale Chappell
34. Decision Not to Prosecute May Reduce Chance of Recidivism, by Kevin Bliss
35. Fourth Circuit Extends Gant’s Automobile Search-Incident-to-Arrest Framework to Searches of Non-Vehicular Containers, by Douglas Ankney
36. Texas Supreme Court: Multiple Misdemeanor Charges Resulting From Single Arrest Divisible for Expunction Purposes, by Douglas Ankney
37. Police Legal Defense Funds Have Millions in Reserve, by Jayson Hawkins
38. Big Brother Is Watching You Through Your Car, by Jayson Hawkins
39. Warrantless Warrants and Crooked Courts in Chicago, by Jayson Hawkins
40. Constitutional Protections No Protection for Colorado Man Killed by Police, by Casey Bastian
41. Details Surface About Firm That Hacked iPhone for the FBI in 2016, by Anthony Accurso
42. Debunking the Myth of ‘Dangerous’ Traffic Stops, by Jayson Hawkins
43. Reports Show Law Enforcement Groups Are Main Force Pushing New Anti-Protest Laws, by Matthew Clarke
44. Prosecutors Call for Humane Sentencing Measures, by Kevin Bliss
45. Jury Refuses to Hold Abusive Cops Accountable for Beating Undercover Cop, by Anthony Accurso
46. Two T-shirts Cost Louisiana Man 20 Years, by Edward Lyon
47. Digital Dogs, New Technology Designed to Sniff-Out Crime, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
48. Police Use of Facial Recognition May Be Broader Than Expected, by Anthony Accurso
49. When Police Ignore Ordered Changes, Is It Really Reform?, by Douglas Ankney
50. The Louisiana Board of Parole Giveth and Taketh Away: The Troubling Case of Bobby Sneed, by Casey Bastian
51. The People Have Spoken: Clemency Appointments Should Follow the Will of the People, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
52. Police Target People of Color for Cannabis Crimes Despite Legalization, by Anthony Accurso
53. Bodycams Do Not Hold Cops Accountable, Communities Do, by Anthony Accurso
54. News in Brief

More from Casey Bastian:

• California Prisoners Sue Gynecologist for Sexual Abuse, Aug. 1, 2025
• Policing the Vulnerable: The Criminalization of Disability, May 15, 2025
• Examining Pro-Prosecution Bias in the Judiciary: Unconscious Biases of a Prosecutorial Background, Feb. 15, 2025
• The Rise of Mass Supervision: From Rehabilitative Alternative to Shadow Carceral State, Oct. 1, 2024
• Demonstrable Remorse, Psychiatric Diagnoses, and Alternatives to Incarceration, Aug. 1, 2024
• Minnesota Sex Offender Program: The Indefinite Detention of the Reviled, Aug. 1, 2024
• The 153 Exonerations in 2023 Include 19 Resulting From Threats or Sentences of Death, July 15, 2024
• Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far, March 1, 2024
• Dangerous Encounters: Interactions Between Autistic Individuals and Law Enforcement, Dec. 15, 2023
• U.S. Sentencing Commission Publishes Compassionate Release Datafile for Fiscal Years 2020-­2022, Oct. 1, 2023

More from these topics:

• Your DNA Was at the Scene, But You Weren’t: How Touch DNA Is Convicting the Innocent, June 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Wrongful Conviction, DNA Evidence, Evidence - Admissibility, Claim of Innocence.
• The Unintentional Informant: Household Pets as Vectors of Human DNA, March 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, Forensic Sciences, DNA Evidence, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
• A Critical Safeguard for the Accused: NIST’s New DNA Standard Challenges the Reliability of “Messy” Crime Scene Evidence, March 1, 2026. Crime Labs, Forensic Sciences, DNA Evidence, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
• $8.5 Million for Family of Murdered Elderly Californian Detained for Cold Case Killings Based on “Genetic Genealogy”, Dec. 1, 2025. Failure to Protect (General), Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Fourteenth Amendment, rights, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, DNA Evidence.
• 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.
• Study: DNA Transfer in Social Settings, Feb. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, Forensic Sciences, DNA Evidence, DNA Evidence/Testing.
• Study Highlights Limitations in Forensic DNA Analysis Involving Lower Genetic Diversity Groups, Feb. 1, 2025. Diversity Jurisdiction, Forensic Sciences, DNA Evidence.
• Forensic Genetic Genealogy: Police Are Searching Genetic Genealogy Companies’ Databases Regardless of Whether They Have Permission, Dec. 1, 2024. Databases, DNA Evidence.
• Cops Want to Use DNA for Facial Recognition, Oct. 1, 2024. Computer Searches, DNA Evidence.
• DNA Databases, Privacy Concerns, and Noble Cause Bias, Sept. 1, 2024. junk science, DNA Evidence, Bias/Discrimination.