More from this issue:

1. The Debunking of Forensic Science: A Decade of Increased Scrutiny Reveals Forensic Processes Prone to Bias and Error, by Casey Bastian
2. California Court of Appeal: At Felony-Murder Resentencing Hearing, Court May Not Deny Relief Based on Findings That Are Inconsistent With Previous Acquittal, by Douglas Ankney
3. You’d Better Watch Out: The Surveillance State Is Making a List, and You’re On It, by Nisha Whitehead, John W. Whitehead
4. Montana Supreme Court: Odor of Marijuana by Itself Insufficient to Prolong Traffic Stop, by Anthony Accurso
5. Fifth Circuit: ‘Nonsubstantial Overcrowding’ of Vehicle Used in Transporting Illegal Aliens Insufficient for Imposition of Sentencing Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2L1.1(b)(6), by Douglas Ankney
6. California Court of Appeal: Kill-Zone Theory Principles Articulated in Canizales Are Retroactive to Judgments That Were Final at Time of Decision, by Jacob Barrett
7. Florida Supreme Court Announces Completed ‘Purchase’ of Drugs Under Trafficking Statute Requires Exchange of Money and Possession, by David Reutter
8. Police Digitally Frame Activists in India, but It Can Happen Anywhere, by Jayson Hawkins
9. Eleventh Circuit: Prosecutor Denied Absolute Prosecutorial Immunity for Failure to Ensure Cancellation of Material Witness Warrant, by David Reutter
10. Fifth Circuit: District Court Erred in Finding That a Fourth Amendment Stop Did Not Occur, by Harold Hempstead
11. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Where Trial Counsel Believed, Erroneously, He Had Ethical Duty to Tell Prosecution Location of Key Incriminating Evidence Not in Counsel’s Possession, by Douglas Ankney
12. Los Angeles: Police Union Resists Changes to Pretextual Stops, by Jayson Hawkins
13. Police Find It Easier to Influence Public Opinion Than to Protect and Serve, by Benjamin Tschirhart
14. Tenth Circuit: Unreasonable Determination of Downward Variance of Guidelines Resulted in Plain Error, by David Reutter
15. Ninth Circuit Suppresses Evidence as Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Where Officer Lacked Probable Cause to Arrest Man Who Displayed Handgun in Open Carry State, by Douglas Ankney
16. California Court of Appeal Announces the People Are Not Entitled to Have Privately Retained Psychological Expert Testify at Trial of SVPA Petition, by Douglas Ankney
17. Connecticut Supreme Court Announces ‘John Doe’ Warrant Based on Suspect’s General Description and Partial DNA Profiles, Which May or May Not Include Suspect’s DNA, Fails to Satisfy ‘Particularity Requirement’ of Fourth Amendment, by Douglas Ankney
18. Tenth Circuit: Prisoner Convicted of Covered Drug Offense but Sentenced to Mandatory Life Sentence Via Cross Reference for Murder Under Pre-Booker Guidelines Has Standing to Request First Step Act Sentence Reduction, by Douglas Ankney
19. NYC: The First DNA Gun Crimes Unit in America, by Harold Hempstead
20. Sixth Circuit: Unarmed Bank Robber Who Ordered Tellers to Get on the Floor Not Subject to Enhancement for Physical Restraint, by Matthew Clarke
21. Traditional Forensic Ballistics Comparisons Giving Way to Virtual 3D Methods, by Casey Bastian
22. The National Registry of Exonerations 2021 Annual Report: 161 Exonerations Comprising 1,849 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment, by Casey Bastian
23. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Ends Practice of Juvenile Courts Granting Continuances for Sole Purpose of Extending Delinquent’s Period of Detention, by Douglas Ankney
24. Mislabeling of Marijuana Products Is a National Problem, by Kevin Bliss
25. Review of Prior Research Identifies Three Main Sources of Bias in Jury Decision-Making Processes, by Casey Bastian
26. Police Foundations: The Impossible Task of Separating the World of Policing From the World of Corporate Money, by Casey Bastian
27. People Convicted of Sex Crimes Remain Incarcerated 25 Years After Completing Their Prison Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
28. Charlotte Is Ground Zero for New FBI Asset Forfeiture Tip Line Program, by Casey Bastian
29. News in Brief
30. Theft of Public Funds or Accounting Incompetence? Kansas Police Agencies Can’t Accurately Track Property Forfeitures, by Jacob Barrett

More from Matthew Clarke:

• Nebraska Supreme Court Clarifies Procedure for Crediting 
Jail Time to Multiple Contemporaneously-Imposed Sentences, Aug. 1, 2025
• Over One-Third of Older Texas Prisoners 
Suffering Cognitive Impairment, July 15, 2025
• Kansas Supreme Court Revives Prisoner’s Challenge 
to Loss of Parental Rights, June 1, 2025
• Fifth Circuit Reinstates Baha’i Texas Prisoner’s Dietary Claim, June 1, 2025
• $5.6 Million Settlement for California Prisoner’s Wife 
Strip-searched During Visit, June 1, 2025
• Academic Study of Prison Guards’ Use of Excessive Force 
Details Sad State of Civil Rights for Abused Prisoners, June 1, 2025
• Multitudes Caged for Failure to Pay Child Support, Driving Mass Incarceration, May 1, 2025
• Los Angeles County Pays $24 Million to Two Former Prisoners Wrongly Convicted as Teens of 1997 Murder, May 1, 2025
• Federal Watchdog Calls Out BOP for Spiking Suicide Risk at Pennsylvania Lockup, April 1, 2025
• Eighth Circuit: Arkansas Prisoner Who Had Consensual Sex With Guard Cannot Sustain Eighth Amendment Claim, April 1, 2025

More from these topics:

• Tenth Circuit Announces Motor Vehicles Are Not Per Se Instrumentalities of Interstate Commerce Under Commerce Clause for Purposes of the Federal Kidnapping Statute, Aug. 1, 2025. Commerce Clause, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Interstate Commerce.
• Arkansas Supreme Court Rules § 16-93-609(b)(2)(B), Relating to Parole Eligibility for Residential Burglary Conviction, Applies Retroactively to Defendant, April 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Eligibility for Parole.
• California Court of Appeal: Evidence Insufficient to Show Robbery Victim Moved ‘Substantial Distance’ to Support Simple Kidnapping Conviction and Amendments to § 186.22 Require Vacatur of Gang Enhancements, Feb. 15, 2025. Prison Gangs, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Insufficiency of the Evidence, Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Gang Membership.
• California Court of Appeal Reverses Felony Murder Conviction Because Evidence Insufficient to Support Underlying Predicate Felony of Attempted Robbery, Sept. 1, 2023. Murder/Felony Murder, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft.
• Second Circuit Vacates § 924 Convictions Predicated on Attempted Hobbs Act Robbery, Sept. 1, 2023. Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft, Hobbs Act.
• Second Circuit: Second-Degree Kidnapping Under New York Penal Law § 135.20 Not Categorically a Crime of Violence, Aug. 1, 2023. Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence.
• Hawaii Supreme Court: Plain Error Not Providing ‘Incidental Restraint’ Jury Instruction Where Kidnapping Only Charge After Dismissing Abuse Charges Prior to Trial, April 15, 2023. Restraints, Jury Instructions, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Plain/Harmless Error.
• Newly Hired Florida Cop Arrested for Pawning Multiple Police-Issued Guns and Fraudulently Using Partner’s Credit Card, Oct. 27, 2022. Police Misconduct, Defrauding a Public Community, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft.
• U.S. v. Royston, No. 5:01CR30042 (W.D.Va.) (184 F.Supp.2d 517) (January 30, 2002) (Judge James C. Turk), March 1, 2002. Punch And Jurists, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft.
• Jones v. U.S., No. 97-6203 (U.S. Supreme Court) (526 U.S. 227; 119 S.Ct. 1215) (March 24, 1999) (Justice Souter), Jan. 27, 2002. Punch And Jurists, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint.