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Articles by Anthony Accurso

Pharmacies Are Giving Your Prescription Data to Police Without a Warrant

by Anthony W. Accurso

Following a congressional investigation, some lawmakers wrote a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) about how the eight largest pharmacy chains provide patient prescription information to police without requiring a warrant, and only one regularly notifies customers when it discloses this private ...

California Attorney General Issues Memo Prohibiting Out-of-State Sharing of ALPR Data

by Anthony W. Accurso

Rob Bonta, the Attorney General for the state of California, issued a memo to law enforcement agencies in the state, which interprets SB 34 and forbids them from sharing with out-of-state agencies data collected from automated license plate readers (“ALPRs”).

ALPRs are controversial. They record license ...

Utah Supreme Court Announces Communication of Cellphone Passcode Protected by Fifth Amendment and Rules Advising Jury of Defendant’s Refusal to Disclose Passcode Violates Privilege Against Compelled Self-Incrimination

by Anthony W. Accurso

In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Utah held that production of a cellphone passcode is “testimonial” for purposes of the Fifth Amendment and that the State violated the defendant’s privilege against self-incrimination rights when it mentioned his refusal to disclose the passcode ...

The FBI’s Rapidly Expanding DNA Database

by Anthony W. Accurso

The FBI has amassed over 20 million DNA profiles in its database and has requested Congress double its budget for handling DNA samples “to process the rapidly increasing number of DNA samples collected.”

The Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, is the FBI’s centrally searchable repository ...

Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Police Training on How to Violate Constitutional Rights

by Anthony W. Accurso

Until recently, police departments in New Jersey were covering expenses for their officers to attend training sessions conducted by Street Cop Training (“SCT”), an organization that encourages “a hypervigilant warrior mentality” and trains officers to consider an arbitrary and contradictory list of behaviors as reasons to ...

LexisNexis Aids Customs and Border Patrol to Flaunt Fourth Amendment

by Anthony W. Accurso

LexisNexis is known by many of Generation X as the provider of education software, but it is actually a data company that has applied its expertise in the controversial realm of human intelligence, according to a contract with Customs and Border Patrol (“CBP”).

Advocacy group Just ...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Failure to Disclosure Mental Health Report Showing Key Witness Was a Sociopath Constitutes Brady Violation That Prejudiced Defendant

by Anthony W. Accurso

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld the ruling of a lower court granting a writ of habeas corpus upon finding that the Commonwealth committed a Brady violation when it failed to disclose a mental health report that concluded the only witness for the prosecution was a ...

New York Court of Appeals Reverses Conviction Because Testifying Criminalist Not Shown to Have Requisite Involvement in DNA Testing Process and Provides Guidance to Avoid Future Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause Violations

by Anthony W. Accurso

The Court of Appeals of New York reversed a case where the People failed to present evidence that the criminalist, who testified as to DNA analysis, had sufficient involvement in the final crucial step of the DNA testing process in which the DNA profile is generated ...

The Potential for Soil Dust Analysis in Forensics

by Anthony W. Accurso

Australian forensic scientists, led by Flinders University, have been studying how the chemical and biological analysis of as little as three mg of dust can pinpoint its geographical origin, so it “can be used as key evidence to link back to the scene of a crime.” ...

Suspicion of Government Surveillance Increasing

by Anthony W. Accurso

The concern among Republicans and right-leaning independent voters that federal law enforcement agencies—particularly the FBI—are becoming politicized is driving an increase in the distrust these Americans have that these agencies will abuse access to personal data.

Traditional conservative voters in America have, for decades, reliably supported ...

 

 

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