by Douglas Ankney
A law in Illinois that requires data to be reported from state and local police to the Illinois Department of Transportation is set to expire this July. Because “[t]ransparency is the first step toward police accountability and reform,” there are calls to make the law …
by Douglas Ankney
A new report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission reveals that the length of a defendant’s prison sentence increasingly depends on the whims of the judge. For example, in Philadelphia, some of the judges ordered sentences 63 percent longer than their colleagues for identical crimes. …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that a defendant’s misprision of felony conviction for failing to report a felony in which the defendant was herself involved violates the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Elsa Solis was convicted of conspiring to …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled that when police obtain a suspect’s waiver of his right not to incriminate himself before informing the suspect of “the essence of the charges filed against him,” the State cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a delay of 68 months between arrest and trial violates the right to a speedy trial enshrined in the Sixth Amendment when most of the delay is attributable to the Government.
On March …
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression for the Supreme Court of Georgia, it held that an unreasonable delay in obtaining a search warrant after items were lawfully seized requires suppression of the evidence.
In December 2015, police seized from Jennifer and Joseph Rosenbaum their …
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Georgia held that due process requires the appointment of a person to read questions submitted by a visually impaired defendant.
Richard Bishop was 76 years old when he shot and killed his girlfriend and injured her other boyfriend in …
by Douglas Ankney
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall of Chicago ruled that it is unconstitutional for Illinois to hold sex offenders in prison after their release date when they are so poor they cannot find a home placement that complies with state requirements.
Many sex …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that a district court must state the factual basis for a continuance or use language that invokes a particular provision of the Speedy Trial Act (“Act”) in order to exclude the delay from the 70-day …
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a search wherein FBI agents lied about an emergency in order to gain consent to search a suspect’s computers violates the Fourth Amendment.
On October 23, 2013, ten FBI agents arrived at the …
