More from this issue:

1. Government Snitches Rake in Millions as Their Testimony Is the Leading Cause of Wrongful Convictions, by Jacob Barrett, Dale Chappell
2. California Court of Appeal Vacates Conviction Because Generic Immigration Consequences Warning Insufficient for Defendant to Understand Mandatory Immigration Consequences as a Result of Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
3. The FBI’s Gestapo Tactics: Hallmarks of an Authoritarian Regime, by John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead
4. California Court of Appeal: Defendant’s ‘Novel Interpretation’ of Pen. Code § 1203.01 Entitles Him to Have Trial Court Consider Motion to Correct Post-Judgment Record 40 Years After Conviction Final, by Douglas Ankney
5. SCOTUS Announces Government Must Prove Physicians in § 841 Prosecutions ‘Knowingly and Intentionally’ Exceeded Their Authorization to Prescribe Controlled Substances, Such as Opioids, by Harold Hempstead
6. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Warrant to Search Cellphone Must Establish Nexus Between Device and Offense Beyond ‘Boilerplate’ Language About Cellphones Being Ubiquitous and Used in Crimes, by Anthony Accurso
7. Hawai’i Supreme Court Announces Medical ‘Rule-Out Questions’ Prior to Field Sobriety Test Are Interrogation Triggering Miranda Requirements, by Anthony Accurso
8. New Jersey Supreme Court Orders New Trial Because Detective Failed to Clarify Suspect’s Ambiguous Request for Counsel During Interrogation, by Douglas Ankney
9. Third Circuit Announces First Step Act Applies Retroactively to Defendant Whose Pre-Act Sentence Vacated After Act’s Enactment, by Harold Hempstead
10. Fifth Circuit: New, Retroactive Supreme Court Decision Allowing SOS Habeas Petition Not New Enough to Avoid Procedural-Default Bar, by Dale Chappell
11. SCOTUS: § 1983 Claim Cannot Be Based on Violation of Miranda Because Not Tantamount to Violation of Fifth Amendment, by Harold Hempstead
12. Fifth Circuit: Officer’s Testimony About CI’s Controlled Buy That He Did Not Personally Witness Violates Confrontation Clause, by Mark Wilson
13. SCOTUS Refuses to Extend Bivens Remedy to Either First Amendment Retaliation Claim or Fourth Amendment Excessive-Force Claim, by Dale Chappell
14. Tech Giants Support Ban on Geofence and Reverse Keyword Warrants, by Anthony Accurso
15. Seventh Circuit: Federal Habeas Corpus – AEDPA Time Limit Opens Door for Savings Clause Relief, by Dale Chappell
16. Ohio Supreme Court: Amendment to Statute That Shifts Burden of Proof to State Regarding Self-Defense Applies to All Pending and New Trials After Effective Date, Regardless of When Alleged Crime Occurred, by Douglas Ankney
17. New Mexico Supreme Court Announces Judicial Misconduct May Bar Retrial Under Double Jeopardy Clause of State Constitution, by Douglas Ankney
18. USSC Report Highlights Problems with Sentencing in Child Porn Cases, by Dale Chappell
19. California Court of Appeal Announces Term ‘Actual Killer’ in Revised Felony-Murder Statute Refers to Person Who ‘Personally Killed’ Victim, Not Necessarily Same as Person Who ‘Caused’ Death, for Resentencing Purposes Under § 1170.95, by Matthew Clarke
20. Forensic Psychiatrist Questions the Value of Memory, by Jayson Hawkins
21. The Blue Wall of Silence: Law Enforcement Whistleblowers Face Severe Retaliation, by Casey Bastian
22. Fourth Amendment Loopholes and the PATRIOT Act’s Legacy, by Anthony Accurso
23. FBI Phone Hack May Have Monitored Americans in Operation Trojan Shield, by Jayson Hawkins
24. Psychological Repercussions of Surveillance, by Anthony Accurso
25. Chicago PD Is Spying on Social Media Using Fake Profiles Provided by the FBI, by Anthony Accurso
26. Study Shows Crime Reduced When Crisis Teams, as Opposed to Police, Respond to Low-Level Crimes, by Jacob Barrett
27. Understanding Environmental Effects on Blowflies Permits Fine-Tuning of Evidence Revealed From Fly Colonization of Decomposing Bodies, by Douglas Ankney
28. 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:

• Surveillance for Sale: The Data Broker Loophole and the Fourth Amendment After Chatrie, July 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Federal Funds, Tainted Funds.
• SCOTUS Announces Accessing Google Location History Data Constitutes a Fourth Amendment Search, Holding That Neither Brief Duration Nor Third-Party Storage Negates Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Cellphone Location Information, July 1, 2026. Particularity Requirement, Probable Cause, Cell-Phone Location/Tracking Data, Cell Site Location Information ("CSLI"), Electronic Surveillance.
• Passive Data Transforms Smart Devices Into Covert Witnesses in a Silent Surveillance State, July 1, 2026. Forensic Sciences, Police State-Surveillance, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Electronic Surveillance, Exclusionary Rule.
• The Constitution for Sale: FBI Confirms Resumption of Data Broker Dragnets, June 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Warrantless Searches, Cell-Phone Location/Tracking Data, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights.
• Guilty Until Proven Innocent: The Due Process Risks of Automated Traffic Enforcement, May 1, 2026. Fourteenth Amendment, rights, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights, Authentication/Identification, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of.
• Beyond Geofence Warrants: Chatrie, Reverse-Location Surveillance, and the Fourth Amendment Fight Over Digital Dragnets, May 1, 2026. Police State-Surveillance, Cell-Phone Location/Tracking Data, Cell Site Location Information ("CSLI"), Electronic Surveillance.
• Oregon Supreme Court Announces Article I, Section 9, of State Constitution Protects Privacy in Internet Browsing Conducted Over Public Wi-Fi Networks, April 1, 2026. Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Warrantless Searches, Electronic Surveillance, State Constitutional Claims, Suppression.
• The “Free Trial” Police State, March 1, 2026. Police State-Surveillance, Enforcement of Immigration Laws, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights, Use of Drones.
• Most U.S. Prisoners Now Barred from Directly Receiving Physical Mail, Feb. 1, 2026. Mail Regulations, Due Process, Legal Mail, Censorship, Warrantless Searches, Electronic Surveillance.
• Flock’s Gunshot Sensors Are Expanding to “Distress” Sounds, Feb. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Recordings, Privacy Act/Rights.