More from this issue:

1. Qualified Immunity - A Legal, Practical, and Moral Failure, by Jay Schweikert
2. Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Suit Challenging Idaho’s Sex Offender Registration Law, by Douglas Ankney
3. Column: Raising Successful Federal Habeas Corpus Claims, by Dale Chappell
4. Tenth Circuit Vacates Enhancement for Prior Crime of Violence Because it Wasn’t Independently Eligible to Receive Criminal History Points, by Anthony Accurso
5. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Abused Discretion by Denying Romero Motion and Life Sentence for Attempted Robbery Is Cruel and Unusual Under State Constitution, by Douglas Ankney
6. Third Circuit Announces Prohibition Against Second Resentencing Under First Step Act Can Be Waived by Government, by Matthew Clarke
7. Seventh Circuit Joins Other Circuits Holding Any Crack Cocaine Offense Under § 841 Qualifies for First Step Act Relief, by Dale Chappell
8. California Court of Appeal: Counsel Ineffective for Failure to Investigate Mental Health History, by Douglas Ankney
9. Michigan Supreme Court: Police Must Limit Search of Cellphone Data to Uncovering Evidence of the Criminal Activity Alleged in Warrant, by Douglas Ankney
10. Fifth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity When Police Fatally Beat Unresisting Man Suffering Mental Health Crisis, by Matthew Clarke
11. North Carolina Supreme Court: Superior Court Abused Discretion by Flatly Prohibiting Questions on Racial Bias During Voir Dire, by Douglas Ankney
12. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Witness Testifying Remotely Via Two-Way Video Without Sufficient Reason Violates Confrontation Clause, by Douglas Ankney
13. Fifth Circuit: District Court Cannot Delegate to Probation Officer Authority to Impose Inpatient Treatment, by Douglas Ankney
14. Kansas Supreme Court: Wrong Standard Used in Review of Plea Withdrawal Motion Requires Remand, by David Reutter
15. Indiana Supreme Court: Speedy Trial Right Violated After 6.5 Years Without Retrial, by Anthony Accurso
16. Raid on Data Scientist’s Home Underscores Outdated Technology Laws and Unjustifiable Police Use of Force, by Anthony Accurso
17. Nevada Supreme Court: Defendant Has Right to Withdraw Plea Where He Wasn’t Informed of Range of Possible Punishments, by Douglas Ankney
18. Voters Speak: Dump Tough-On-Crime Prosecutors, Boost Police Oversight, by Dale Chappell
19. Ohio Supreme Court: ‘Avoid Impregnating a Woman’ as Probation Condition for Failing to Pay Child Support Unreasonable, by Dale Chappell
20. Texas Supreme Court Announces Factual-Sufficiency Standard of Review in SVP Determinations, by Douglas Ankney
21. California Court of Appeal: SB 136 Makes Plea Agreement Containing Prior Prison Enhancement Unenforceable, by Douglas Ankney
22. ACLU Spotlights FBI’s Encryption-Breaking Tool in Freedom of Information Suit, by Derek Gilna
23. North Carolina Supreme Court: Testimony That Improperly Bolstered Victim’s Credibility Was Plain Error, by Douglas Ankney
24. Second Circuit Clarifies What Constitutes ‘Possession of a Dangerous Weapon’ and ‘Physical Restraint’ Under the Guidelines, by Dale Chappell
25. Ohio Supreme Court: Jury Must Find Use of Force, Not Sentencing Court, for Mandatory Minimum Sentences, by Anthony Accurso
26. San Francisco Forensic Analyst’s Arrest on Drug Charges Exposes Flawed Lab, by Derek Gilna
27. Montana Supreme Court: Five-Year Delay Violates Speedy Trial and Is Presumptively Prejudicial, by Douglas Ankney
28. SCOTUS: RFRA’s ‘Appropriate Damages’ Includes Monetary Awards, by Douglas Ankney
29. First Circuit Joins Sister Circuits Holding Hobbs Act Robbery Conspiracy not Crime of Violence for 924(c), by Dale Chappell
30. Fatal Shootings by Police Rarely Prosecuted, by Jayson Hawkins
31. Misinformation and the Carceral State, by Jayson Hawkins
32. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Blood Alcohol Test Results From Blood Drawn Under Court Order but Without Consent Is Inadmissible, by Matthew Clarke
33. A 22-Year-Long Path to Justice, by Jayson Hawkins
34. Police Departments Buying Teslas, by Anthony Accurso
35. Mens Rea: Criminal Liability Should Equal Criminal Intent, by Casey Bastian
36. Walter Forbes of Michigan Exonerated After 37 Years in Prison, by Kevin Bliss
37. First Circuit: Rehaif Error Rendered Guilty Plea Invalid, by Dale Chappell
38. The Need for Legislation Governing Police Use of Robots, by Douglas Ankney
39. 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:

• Second Circuit Holds Exclusion of Evidence Corroborating Defendant’s Testimony About Third-Party Statements Bearing on Intent Was Error, Clarifying That Rule 404(b) Does Not Bar Non-Propensity Evidence Offered to Support Credibility, March 1, 2026. Evidentiary Claims, Abuse of Discretion Standard, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence, Character/Reputation/Propensity, Plain/Harmless Error.
• Kansas Supreme Court: Trial Court Erred by Admitting Evidence of Prior Crimes Without Proper Foundation Because State Failed to Prove Defendant Committed Those Crimes, Nov. 15, 2025. Lack of Evidence, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence, Prejudice - Potential for Undue, Character/Reputation/Propensity, Bad Acts Evidence.
• Third Circuit: Where Prosecutor “Flooded” Jury Trial With Evidence of Defendant’s Prior Bad Acts, Counsel Was Constitutionally Ineffective in Not Seeking Contemporaneous Limiting Instructions and Not Objecting When Evidence Went Beyond Limited Purpose –, Oct. 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Strickland Standard, Failure to Preserve Challenge, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence, Bad Acts Evidence.
• Ohio Supreme Court Announces Self-Defense Jury Instruction Does Not Require Intent to Harm or Kill Assailant, Oct. 1, 2024. Defenses, Jury Instructions, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence.
• Fourth Circuit Vacates Where Instructions Failed to Inform Jury That Mens Rea of ‘Knowingly or Intentionally’ Applies to ‘Except as Authorized’ in 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), June 15, 2024. Jury Instructions, Essential Elements of Crime, Mens Rea Element, Elements of Offense, Failure to Instruct on Scienter Requirement.
• Tenth Circuit Announces District Court Erred in Applying Attempted Murder Cross-Reference Under U.S.S.G. § 2A2.1 Based on Malice Aforethought, Without Finding Intent to Kill, Nov. 1, 2023. Murder/Felony Murder, Unreasonable Application of Clearly Established Federal Law, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence.
• New York Court of Appeals Reverses Murder Conviction Where Trial Court’s Evidentiary Rulings Deprived Defendant of ‘Opportunity to Present Complete Defense’, Dec. 15, 2022. Evidentiary Ruling, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence.
• Eleventh Circuit Says Florida Prisoner Alleging Sexual Assault by Guard Need Not Also Prove Excessive Force and Malicious Intent, June 1, 2022. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence.
• U.S. v. Villanueva-Sotelo, No. 07-3055 (D.C. Cir.) (515 F.3d 1234) (February 15, 2008) (Judge David S. Tatel), March 1, 2008. Punch And Jurists, Mens Rea Element.
• Whitfield v. U.S., No. 03-1293 (U.S. Supreme Court) (543 U.S. 209; 125 S.Ct. 687) (January 11, 2005) (Justice O'Connor), Dec. 1, 2004. Punch And Jurists, Mens Rea Element.