More from this issue:

1. Blue Lies Matter, by Nia T. Evans
2. Missouri Supreme Court: Witness’ Two-Way Live Video Feed Testimony Violates Confrontation Clause, by Jacob Barrett
3. Federal Habeas Corpus: Jurisdictional Pitfalls When Seeking Habeas Relief, by Dale Chappell
4. New Jersey Supreme Court: Description of Race and Gender of Robbery Suspects, Without More, Doesn’t Constitute Reasonable Suspicion for Investigatory Traffic Stop of Black Motorists, by Mark Wilson
5. Commentary: Attacking the Guilty Plea—Court Cautions More Time Possible in Child Porn Case if Post-Conviction Motion Successful, by Dale Chappell
6. SCOTUS: No Procedural-Default Exceptions to Excuse Federal Habeas Evidentiary Hearing Bar, by Dale Chappell
7. Ohio Supreme Court: Constitutionality of Indeterminate Sentence Under Reagan Tokes Law May Be Challenged on Direct Appeal, by David M. Reutter
8. Idaho Supreme Court: Telephonic Testimony Violated Defendant’s Sixth Amendment Right to Confrontation, by David M. Reutter
9. Ninth Circuit Holds Statute Criminalizing Encouraging or Inducing Alien to Reside in U.S. Is Overbroad and Facially Unconstitutional, by Mark Wilson
10. Federal Prosecutors Directed to Stop Obtaining Compassionate Release Waivers From Defendants During Plea Agreements and to Not Enforce Previously Obtained Waivers, by Harold Hempstead
11. Cop Training Other Cops to Use Facial Recognition to ID Individuals During Traffic Stops, by Anthony Accurso
12. Seventh Circuit: District Court’s Failure to Exercise Discretion After Erroneously Finding Defendant Ineligible for Relief Under First Step Act Was Abuse of Discretion, by Douglas Ankney
13. Seventh Circuit Vacates Sentence Where District Court’s Rationale for Defendant’s Offense Level Unclear, by Douglas Ankney
14. Supreme Court of Iowa: Sentence Vacated Because Prosecution Failed to Follow Spirit of Plea Agreement Requiring Recommendation of Suspended Sentence, by David M. Reutter
15. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Violated Humphrey by Setting High Bail Without Considering Financial Condition of Defendant or Nonfinancial Conditions of Release, by Matthew Clarke
16. U.S. Treasury Bypasses Fourth Amendment by Buying Location Data for Law Enforcement Purposes, by Anthony Accurso
17. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Announces Coty’s ‘Inference-of-Falsity’ Framework Extended to Apply to Police Officers With Established History of Falsifying Evidence in Drug Cases, by Richard Resch
18. The Feds Are Monitoring Messaging Apps, and Some Are Shockingly Unsecure, by Anthony Accurso
19. Cops in Virginia Beach Used Fake DNA Reports During Interrogations, by Douglas Ankney
20. Tenth Circuit Vacates Special Conditions of Supervised Release Where District Court Failed to Make Appropriate Findings and Provide Adequate Explanation, by Douglas Ankney
21. Fourth Circuit: Good Cause Not Required to Withdraw Consent to Magistrate Judge’s Jurisdiction Prior to Other Parties Consenting, by Harold Hempstead
22. Kentucky Supreme Court: Traffic Stop Impermissibly Extended Where Officer Stopped Writing Citation to Aid Drug-Detection Dog’s Sniff of Vehicle’s Exterior, by Anthony Accurso
23. New Jersey Supreme Court: Youth May Be Considered as a Mitigating Factor but Not Aggravating Factor in Sentencing, by David Reutter
24. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Announces Overruled Motion for New Trial May Be Amended With Court’s Leave Within 30-Day Period After Sentenced Imposed, by Matthew Clarke
25. Tenth Circuit Announces District Court Abused Discretion by Imposing Harsher Sentence Based on Defendant’s Decision to Plead Guilty Without Plea Agreement, by David Reutter
26. Expert Forensic Testimony Flawed by Implicit Racial Bias, by Casey Bastian
27. Oregon Becomes 38th State to Enact Wrongful Conviction Compensation Law, by Mark Wilson
28. Federal Officers Can Violate Civil Rights With Near Impunity - Supreme Court’s Refusal to Consider New Bivens Contexts Provides Protection to Those Who Abuse Their Authority, by Casey Bastian
29. Organization Created Platform to Log Police Misconduct in North Carolina, by Ashleigh Dye
30. A Union Scandal Landed Hundreds of NYPD Officers on a Secret Watchlist. That Hasn’t Stopped Some From Jeopardizing Cases., by Jake Pearson
31. Police Outsourcing Reduces Transparency, by Anthony Accurso
32. COVID-19 Measures Do Not Interfere with Jurors’ Ability to Distinguish Between Truth and Lies, by Casey Bastian
33. The Right to be Forgotten, by David Reutter
34. Oregon Bans Pre-Conviction Mugshot Public Disclosure, by Mark Wilson
35. Racially Disparate Sentencing Patterns Prevalent Amongst Federal Judges, by Casey Bastian
36. What Happened When Oakland Tried to Make Police Pay For Misconduct Decades Ago, by Akintunde Ahmad
37. Council of State Governments Initiates Efforts to Reduce Barriers to Employment for the Formerly Incarcerated, by Douglas Ankney
38. News in Brief

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:

• Virginia Parole Board Skirts New Transparency Rules, Governor Walks Back Expanded Sentence Credits—Again, March 1, 2025. Local Rules, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Credits.
• U.S. Navy Exonerates Wrongly Convicted Black WWII Sailors, Feb. 15, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Military, Racial Profiling, Racial/Ethnic Bias/Profiling.
• Former South Carolina Jailer Spared Prison After Testimony Fails to Convict Former Sheriff, Feb. 15, 2025. Guard Brutality/Beatings, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures, Offense of Conviction.
• Reining in Police Monitoring of Social Media, Feb. 15, 2025. Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Racial/Ethnic Bias/Profiling, Social Media, Racial Bias Exception.
• The Murky Waters of Parole, Feb. 1, 2025. Parole/Probation Searches, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Parole Liability, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
• Oregon Supreme Court: Governor Can’t Revoke Commutation After Sentence Expires, Jan. 15, 2025. Parole/Probation Searches, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Revocation Proceedings, Overreaching.
• After Florida Appellate Court Holds Crimes of ‘Attempt’ Eligible for Incentive Gain Time, Supreme Court Refuses Review, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Conspiracies, Attempts, Solicitations, Attempts/Incomplete Acts, Credits, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures.
• Seventh Circuit Announces Maximum Revocation Sentence for Violation of Supervised Release Based on Classification of Underlying Offense at Time of Conviction, Not at Time of Revocation, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Revocation Proceedings.
• California Supreme Court Announces Retroactivity of 2022 Version of Penal Code § 1170 to Upper-Term Sentences Imposed Before Its Enactment, Dec. 15, 2024. Retroactivity, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
• First Circuit Holds Government Breached Plea Agreement by Implicitly Arguing for Upward Variant Sentence by Including Pictures and Video of Defendant That Allegedly Depict His Criminal Tendencies in Sentencing Memo, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Grounds for Variance, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Grounds.