More from this issue:

1. Probabilistic Genotyping on Trial: Can We Trust 
the Secret Algorithms Deciding Guilt?, by Michael Thompson
2. SCOTUS Announces Sentence ‘Has Not Been Imposed’ 
for Purposes of First Step Act Retroactivity Upon Resentencing When § 924(c) Offender Sentenced Prior to Act’s Enactment 
but Sentence Subsequently Vacated, by Richard Resch
3. Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA, by Douglas Ankney
4. U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments 
to Resolve Circuit Conflicts, by David Kim
5. The Flawed Science of Cannabis Impairment Detection: 
The Need for Evidence-Based Reform, by David Kim
6. Summary of the 2025 Drug Offenses Amendment 
by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, by David Kim
7. Tenth Circuit Announces Motor Vehicles Are Not Per Se Instrumentalities of Interstate Commerce Under Commerce Clause for Purposes of the Federal Kidnapping Statute, by David Kim
8. SCOTUS Announces Courts May Not Consider 
§ 3553(a)(2)(A)—Retribution—When Deciding Whether 
to Revoke a Term of Supervised Release, by Richard Resch
9. Nebraska Supreme Court Clarifies Procedure for Crediting 
Jail Time to Multiple Contemporaneously-Imposed Sentences, by Matthew Clarke
10. First Circuit: Prosecutor’s Breach of Plea Agreement 
Requires Government’s Specific Performance of Agreement, 
Not Specific Performance by District Court, by David Reutter
11. The Quiet Transformation of Government Data 
into a Mass Surveillance Tool, by David Kim
12. California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Misconstrued Elements 
of Implied Malice Theory of Provocative Act Murder Under Current Law and Reverses Denial of Petition for Resentencing, by Sagi Schwartzberg
13. Ninth Circuit: ‘Dominion and Control’ Provision of Search Warrant for Suspect’s Computer That Lacked Temporal or Other Limitation Constitutes General Warrant, by Anthony Accurso
14. Illinois Supreme Court Announces Conviction 
for Attempted First Degree Murder Requires 
‘Intent to Kill Without Lawful Justification, by Jeffrey Cohen
15. AI Honeypots: Police Are Using Chatbots to Pose 
as Teens and Sex Workers to Entrap Suspects, by Michael Thompson
16. The Arrival of REAL ID: National ID Cards 
and Internal Passports in America, by David Kim
17. Eleventh Circuit Announces Sixth Amendment Right to Proceed Pro Se at Sentencing if Defendant ‘Clearly and Unequivocally’ Expresses Desire to Do So After Faretta Inquiry, by Jeffrey Cohen
18. Beyond the City Limits: How Rural Sheriff’s Departments 
Are Driving the Spike in Police Killings, by David Kim
19. DEA’s Secret Phone Surveillance Program ‘Hemisphere’ 
Sparked Internal Warnings—Then a Cover-Up, by Charles "Keith" Wampler
20. Fourth Circuit Announces Sentencing Disparity 
Between Defendant and Co-Defendants Alone Constitutes ‘Extraordinary and Compelling’ Reason Sufficient 
to Justify Compassionate Release, by David Kim
21. News in Brief

More from Jeffrey Cohen:

• Illinois Supreme Court Announces Conviction 
for Attempted First Degree Murder Requires 
‘Intent to Kill Without Lawful Justification, Aug. 1, 2025
• Eleventh Circuit Announces Sixth Amendment Right to Proceed Pro Se at Sentencing if Defendant ‘Clearly and Unequivocally’ Expresses Desire to Do So After Faretta Inquiry, Aug. 1, 2025
• Illinois Supreme Court: Use of Flashlight by Police to See Through Small Gap in Chained and Padlocked Kitchen Cabinet Doors Constitutes ‘Search’ Under Fourth Amendment, May 15, 2025
• Mississippi Supreme Court Vacates Convictions, 
Holding Multiple Errors by State Resulted in ‘Legal Chaos’ 
That Deprived Defendant of Right to Fair Trial 
Under ‘Cumulative-Error Doctrine’, May 15, 2025
• Fifth Circuit Announces Definition of ‘Controlled Substance’ in Effect at Time of Current Sentencing Applies for Purposes of Career-Offender Enhancement, Not Definition at Time of Prior Sentencings, March 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• Delaware Supreme Court Announces Trial Courts Must First Resolve Defense Counsel’s Motion to Withdraw Before Addressing Defendant’s Plea-­Withdrawal Request, Holding Failure to Do So Violates Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel, Jan. 1, 2026. Appointment of Counsel, Sixth Amendment, Counsel - Constructive denial of, Self-representation, Withdrawal.
• Eighth Circuit Holds Right to Self-Representation Is Not Forfeited Based Solely on Defendant’s Repeated Assertion of Frivolous ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Arguments, Sept. 1, 2024. Sovereign Immunity, Judicial or Administrative Orders, Self-representation.
• Georgia Supreme Court Announces Overruling Longstanding Rule That Anything Filed by Defendant While Represented by Counsel Is Always a ‘Legal Nullity’, June 15, 2023. Self-representation.
• California Court of Appeal: Trial Court’s Denial of Faretta Request Without Finding of ‘Severe Mental Illness’ Denied Defendant Sixth Amendment Right to Self-Representation, Feb. 15, 2023. Mental Health, Self-representation, Mental Health Records.
• Third Circuit: District Court’s Focus on Substance of Defendant’s Meritless Arguments in Denying Request to Represent Himself Resulted in Inadequate Inquiry Prior to Denial in Violation of Sixth Amendment, July 15, 2022. Self-representation.
• California Court of Appeal Holds Prisoner May Challenge Administrative Disciplinary Violation Already Served, March 1, 2022. Disciplinary Appeals, Mootness.
• Connecticut Supreme Court Overrules Aquino, Holding Appeal Not Moot Where Defendant Deported During Pendency but Unclear Whether Appealed Conviction Sole Basis for Deportation, Feb. 15, 2022. Mootness, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Deportation/Removal/Exclusion.
• Prison Officials Actions to Correct Inhumane Cell Conditions Merit Judgement in Their Favor, Nov. 1, 2021. Conditions of Confinement, Mootness.
• Mailbox Rule Inapplicable to Prisoners Represented by Counsel, Oct. 1, 2021. Due Process, Legal Mail, Periods of Delay, Self-representation.
• California Appeals Court Holds Habeas Action Over Censorship of Tattoo Magazine Mooted By Delivery, Sept. 1, 2021. Mootness, Habeas Corpus, Censorship.