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 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:

• Report Finds State Prison Systems Fail to Provide Adequate Assistance to Obtain Release Documentation, Oct. 1, 2026. Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Release and Reentry, jobs.
• Colorado Grants, Then Revokes Earned Time Credits, Oct. 1, 2026. Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration, Credits, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Ends Mandatory Life Without Parole Sentence for Felony Murder, Sept. 1, 2026. Life without Parole (LWOP), Constitution, state, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Murder/Felony Murder, Mandatory Minimum Sentence.
• Overtime Cuts Lead to Reduced Programming in California Prisons, Aug. 1, 2026. Cost of Prison Systems, Education, Rehabilitation/Recidivism.
• Conviction Tossed for Former Alabama Prisoner Paroled After 42 Years, July 1, 2026. Sex Offender Registration, Wrongful Conviction, Forensic Sciences, Eyewitness Identification, Brady Rule violations.
• Idaho Supreme Court Holds Indigent Parents Have Constitutional Right to Counsel at Public Expense, July 1, 2026. Court Access, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Counsel - Right to, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions.
• California Supreme Court Limits Money Bail for Nonviolent Charges, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, Sentencing, Due Process, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Pretrial Detention and Detainees.
• Free Phone Calls Saved Prisoners and Their Families More than $600 Million, Report Finds, July 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, PLRA, Prisoner Privileges, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Telephones.
• California Gave Every Student in Prison a Laptop. How Community Colleges Are Using Them, July 1, 2026. Education, Computers, Rehabilitation/Recidivism, Post-release, ex-offender, re-entry, Access to Computers.
• Louisiana Republicans Eliminate Elected Office Won by Exonerated Ex-Prisoner, July 1, 2026. Discrimination, Constitutional Challenges/Law, Public Trial, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions, Fair Trial.