More from this issue:

1. Staggering Injustice, by Derek Gilna
2. Fifth Circuit Vacates Sentence Eight Times Higher Than Guidelines Range That Was Imposed Without Explanation, by Dale Chappell
3. Federal Habeas Corpus: Retroactivity of New Rules, by Dale Chappell
4. Sex Panic: The War on Sex Offenders as Public Enemy Number One, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
5. Fourth Circuit Announces Payton’s ‘Reason to Believe’ Standard for Entering a Third-Party’s Home Based on Arrest Warrant for Suspect Amounts to Probable Cause Suspect Resides There, by Douglas Ankney
6. Colorado Supreme Court: Dividing Multiple Images of Child Pornography Into Multiple Batches to Charge Multiple Counts Violates Double Jeopardy, by Dale Chappell
7. First Circuit: Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Government From Seeking Death Penalty at Retrial Where Jury’s Verdict Not Imposing Death at First Trial Ambiguous, and Trial Court Prematurely Declared Mistrial, by Douglas Ankney
8. Fired San Francisco Cop Charged With Manslaughter for Fatally Shooting Unarmed Suspect, by Dale Chappell
9. California Supreme Court Vacates Murder Conviction, Finds IAC for Failure to Obtain Expert Testimony on Time of Death, by Dale Chappell
10. Ninth Circuit: Reasonable Suspicion Justifying Traffic Stop Doesn’t Provide Probable Cause to Open Door and Lean Inside Vehicle, by Douglas Ankney
11. Police Say Seizing Property Without Trial Helps Keep Crime Down. A New Study Shows They’re Wrong., by Ian MacDougall
12. New York Court of Appeals Reverses Denial of Suppression Motion Where Prosecution Fails to Provide Specific Facts to Show Traffic Stop Was Lawful, by Douglas Ankney
13. Michigan Voters Approve Constitutional Amendment to Protect Electronic Data and Communications, by Anthony Accurso
14. Kansas Supreme Court Clarifies State Law Does Not Preclude Consent to Search Through Nonverbal Conduct, by Douglas Ankney
15. Sixth Circuit Vacates Sentence Because Government Failed to Prove Sentencing Enhancements Apply, by Dale Chappell
16. Eighth Circuit Announces ‘Use of Minor’ Enhancement Inapplicable for Merely Buying Firearm From Minor, by Dale Chappell
17. Illinois Supreme Court Announces Guilty Plea Doesn’t Bar Postconviction Claim of Actual Innocence and Provides Framework for Review, by Douglas Ankney
18. Illinois Supreme Court Announces Predicate Offenses of Home Invasion Statute are Lesser-Included Offenses of Home Invasion Statute, by Douglas Ankney
19. Eleventh Circuit Announces Drug Offenses Involving Multiple Drugs Can Qualify as ‘Covered Offense’ Under First Step Act if Crack One of the Drugs, by Dale Chappell
20. Montana Supreme Court: Statistical Evidence on False Accusations of Rape Improperly Bolstered Witness Credibility, by Anthony Accurso
21. SCOTUS Vacates Grant of Habeas Relief, Citing Habeas ‘Deference’ to State Court Decisions, by Dale Chappell
22. Eleventh Circuit: District Court ‘Mischaracterizing’ Habeas Claim Left Claim Unresolved in Violation of Clisby, Requiring Remand, by Dale Chappell
23. New York Man Exonerated of Murder and Freed After 25 Years in Prison, by Douglas Ankney
24. Predator or Patsy? Long Sentences for Those Caught in Victimless Child Sex Stings
25. Ninth Circuit: Rehaif Error Requires Automatic Dismissal of Indictment, by Dale Chappell
26. Fourth Circuit: Commercial Vehicle Permit Requirement Insufficient Grounds to Initiate Traffic Stop, by Anthony Accurso
27. Eleventh Circuit: Private Probation Company With Financial Interest in its Sentencing Decisions Violates Due Process, by David Reutter
28. California Court of Appeal: Confrontation Clause Violation Where Supervisor, Not Lab Tech Who Performed Drug Tests, Testified at Trial, by Anthony Accurso
29. Fifth Circuit: Conviction Vacated Because No Reasonable Suspicion to Search Person in High-Crime Area, by Anthony Accurso
30. Third Circuit: IAC Where Counsel Failed to Object to Accomplice-Liability Jury Instruction in Murder Case That Relieved State of Proving Specific Intent, by Dale Chappell
31. Data Expose Demographics of Police Dog Bites, by Jayson Hawkins
32. Seventh Circuit: Prisoner Has Right to Know Conditions of Supervised Release Prior to Being Released, by Douglas Ankney
33. When a Hung Jury Is Enough, by Jayson Hawkins
34. Audit of D.C. Forensics Lab Reveals History of Botched Forensic Analyses, by Casey Bastian
35. Multi-Agency Task Forces Manipulate Jurisdiction to Avoid Liability, by Casey Bastian
36. Inadequate and Outdated Training Results in Wild West Policing, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
37. New Michigan Law Expands Criminal Records Expungement, by Casey Bastian
38. Athlete Settles Tasing Suit Against Milwaukee Police, by Edward Lyon
39. Eighth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief, Finds Arkansas Supreme Court Wrongly Denied Defendant’s Self-Representation Request, by Dale Chappell
40. Police Unions Block Meaningful Criminal Justice Reform, by Casey Bastian
41. How Arkansas Criminalizes Poverty, by Jayson Hawkins
42. California Law Enforcement Strikes Out in 2020 Elections, by Kevin Bliss
43. Massive Corruption of a Baltimore Task Force Exposed, by Casey Bastian
44. NYPD Agrees to Alter Religious Headwear Policy, by Casey Bastian
45. Massachusetts Supreme Court Announces Requirement Prosecution Prove Defendant Knew Firearm Was Loaded Applies Retroactively, by Douglas Ankney
46. Prosecutors Who Demand Accountability From Everyone But Themselves, by Casey Bastian
47. News in Brief
48. Louisiana Supreme Court Vacates Murder Conviction for Speedy Trial Violation, by Dale Chappell

More from Casey Bastian:

• 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
• Two Dead and $4.675 Million Paid After Deputies’ Alleged Misconduct in California’s Sonoma County, Sept. 15, 2023

More from these topics:

• Muslim Prisoners Face Price-Gouging, April 1, 2025. Religious Discrimination, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Religious Practices, Religious Property.
• Lawsuits by Michigan Prisoner Yield $57,750 in Settlements, Plus Policy Changes, Jan. 15, 2025. Settlements, Denial of Religious Services, Religious Practices.
• Ninth Circuit Greenlights Muslim Hawaii Prisoner’s Challenge to Early-Served Ramadan Meals, Jan. 15, 2025. Religious Discrimination, Religious Diet.
• BOP Settles Muslim Prisoner’s Religious Discrimination and Medical Denial Claims at Colorado Supermax, Dec. 15, 2024. Religious Discrimination, Systemic Medical Neglect, Settlements, Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
• Fifth Circuit Revives Texas Prisoner’s Suit Alleging Interference With His Muslim Religious Practice, Nov. 15, 2024. Religious Discrimination, Denial of Religious Services.
• Second Circuit: New York Prisoner’s Religious Discrimination Need Not Show a “Substantial” Burden of Beliefs, Oct. 15, 2024. Religious Discrimination.
• Sixth Circuit Revives Ohio Prisoner’s Retaliation Claim That Guards Got Him Kicked Out of Religious Group, July 1, 2024. Religious Discrimination, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, RLUIPA.
• Missouri Muslim Prisoners Advance Suit Against Guards For Assault During Prayer, July 1, 2024. Religious Discrimination, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas.
• FBI Visit to Oklahoma Woman in Response to Social Media Post Sparks Debate on Free Speech, May 15, 2024. Racial Discrimination, Religious Discrimination, FBI, First Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Social Media.
• Fourth Circuit Moves North Carolina Prisons Closer to Recognizing Nation of Gods and Earths, May 1, 2024. Religious Discrimination, RLUIPA, Religion Defined, Religious Freedom/Worship, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), Free Exercise Clause.