On April 30, 2025, the United States Sentencing Commission (“USSC”), an independent agency within the judicial branch established under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, promulgated a multi-part amendment to the federal sentencing guidelines addressing drug offenses, effective November 1, 2025. This amendment revises guidelines related to drug …

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that motor vehicles are not per se instrumentalities of interstate commerce for purposes of the Commerce Clause, so the intrastate use of a motor vehicle during the commission of an alleged kidnapping alone is not sufficient to support …

In recent years, the federal government has been repurposing data originally collected for public services—such as tax filing, health care enrollment, and labor oversight—into a powerful tool for mass surveillance and law enforcement. Fueled by executive orders, agreements between government agencies, and partnerships with private companies, this shift has …

A common trope in science fiction involves a dystopian future where every trip to the airport, government office, and other routine errands of daily life requires residents to show a standardized ID, their every move tracked through a web of mass surveillance. That fictional dystopian future came one step …

A teenager fatally shot by a deputy on a roadway in New Mexico during the previous summer represents part of an escalating pattern of such incidents.

While driving across the plains of southern New Mexico one evening last summer, Gina Via initially mistook a figure for an elk. …

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia did not abuse its discretion in granting the defendant’s motion for compassionate release based on sentencing disparities alone between the defendant and his co-defendants because those disparities …

In resolving a split among the United States Courts of Appeals, the Supreme Court of the United States held that a defendant who induces a victim to enter into a contract under false pretenses may be convicted of federal wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 even though the …

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that invoking the Fifth Amendment while testifying at trial does not constitute inconsistent testimony with a prior confession made under a proffer agreement because under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, no factual inference can be drawn from the invocation …

by David Kim

Police records obtained by WIRED reveal that the rise of internet-connected car features, spurred by automakers’ subscription models, is increasing drivers’ vulnerability to government surveillance. These documents expose how law enforcement agencies exploit the data generated by modern vehicles, often without public knowledge or meaningful …

by David Kim

Ohio’s death penalty system, which has consumed over a billion dollars, delivers neither justice nor closure, according to a damning report by Ohioans to Stop Executions. The system—marked by exorbitant costs, prolonged delays, and a troubling history of wrongful convictions—fails victims’ families, prison staff, and …