by Casey J. Bastian
I’ve always known I didn’t trust humans with developing robotic technology. Of all the concerns I have, I now have to add possible mortal combat with robotic dogs to the list. Thanks Boston Dynamics. But thanks to Samantha Cole of vice.com, I know how to kick ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Christopher Tapp’s wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration is a case-study of overwhelming failures during the criminal justice process. It is an example of how abusive tactics and investigative failures can cost an innocent man decades of his life. These failures can also cost the victims a ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Federal and state law enforcement agencies have been increasingly using mobile device data warrants as a modern investigative tool. Authorities present technology service providers, such as Google, with “reverse location” warrants seeking electronic data information of all persons whose devices may have been at or near ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Eddie Lee Howard, now 67, is a Black man who spent more than a quarter-century fighting not only to prove his innocence, but for his very life. Howard has been on death row at Parchman Farm in Mississippi after being wrongfully convicted – twice. On August ...
by Casey Bastian
A Loyola University Chicago study, which was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, closely examined a 2017 Cook County, Illinois, bail reform initiative and its impact on public safety.
All too often, critics of bail reform assert a stale mantra that more pretrial ...
by Casey Bastian
Repeated attempts by New Jersey lawmakers to rein in police union contracts have failed to eliminate costly provisions related to munificent compensations, financial incentives, and awards.
ProPublica and Asbury Park Press, an affiliate of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, recently completed an unprecedented analysis of thousands of ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Civil asset forfeiture laws allow law enforcement agencies to seize property if that property is suspected of being related to criminal activity. These laws do not require that the owner be convicted of a crime; a person does not even need to have been charged for ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Following 9/11, America’s law enforcement apparatus seems to have metastasized from a necessary component in a civilized society to a cancer-like growth on the body of personal liberty. American citizens are supposed to retain unalienable rights under the First Amendment – to peaceably assemble, speak freely ...
by Casey J. Bastian
Over 250 Black police officers have sued the U.S. Capitol Police (“USCP”) since 2001 over allegations of racism and discrimination. ProPublica’s January 14, 2021, article by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien highlights how this past history may have led to the January 6, 2021, riot at ...
by Casey J. Bastian
On December 16, 2020, Termaine Hicks received what he calls “the best news I’ve heard in all my life.” Hicks learned that, after 19 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, he was finally going home.
Hicks was in South Philadelphia on the early ...
