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The Trial Penalty: How America Abandoned the Right to Trial
Article • November 15, 2025 • from CLN December, 2025
Filed under: Penalty for Going to Trial
The Trial Penalty: How America Abandoned the Right to Trial by Douglas Ankney by Doug Ankney “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” —Thomas Jefferson (Personal letter to Thomas Paine, …
The Malleable Mind in the Courtroom: Why Confident Eyewitnesses Often Provide the Least Reliable Evidence
Article • October 15, 2025 • from CLN November, 2025
Filed under: Eyewitness Testimony, Fabrication of Evidence, Jury Views
The Malleable Mind in the Courtroom: Why Confident Eyewitnesses Often Provide the Least Reliable Evidence by David Reutter by David M. Reutter “Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” – Marcel Proust When jurors weigh evidence in a criminal trial, few types of …
How to Build a Human; A Forensics Company Tells Cops It Can Use DNA to Predict a Suspect’s Face. Scientists Worry the Tool Will Deepen Racial Bias.
Article • September 15, 2025 • from CLN October, 2025
Filed under: Forensic Sciences, Fourth Amendment, rights, DNA Evidence, Advanced Imaging Technology
How to Build a Human; A Forensics Company Tells Cops It Can Use DNA to Predict a Suspect’s Face. Scientists Worry the Tool Will Deepen Racial Bias. by Jordan Smith Originally published on February 2, 2025. Republished with permission from The Intercept https://theintercept.com/2025/02/02/forensic-dna-phenotyping-parabon-nanolabs-police/, an award-winning nonprofit news organization dedicated to …
Special Digital Currencies Issue: 
Bitcoin and CBDCs What Is Bitcoin? The Answer to Government Surveillance 
and Control Through Money An Essential Introduction, Glossary of Multidisciplinary 
Termino...
Article • August 15, 2025 • from CLN September, 2025
Filed under: Money/Property, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Money Laundering/Structuring
Special Digital Currencies Issue: Bitcoin and CBDCs What Is Bitcoin? The Answer to Government Surveillance and Control Through Money An Essential Introduction, Glossary of Multidisciplinary Terminology, and Colorful History by Richard Resch “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for …
From the Editor
Article • August 15, 2025 • from CLN September, 2025
Filed under: Money/Property, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Money Laundering/Structuring
From the Editor by Richard Resch Welcome to this month’s issue of Criminal Legal News (“CLN”). As you can see, it’s devoted to the revolutionary and controversial topic of digital currencies, spotlighting the two most important participants in the enduring clash between individual liberties and state control. In this issue, …
Central Bank Digital Currencies: Trojan Horses Delivering 
Mass Surveillance Under the Guise of Monetary Innovation
Article • August 15, 2025 • from CLN September, 2025
Filed under: Money/Property, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Money Laundering/Structuring
Central Bank Digital Currencies: Trojan Horses Delivering Mass Surveillance Under the Guise of Monetary Innovation by David Kim “He who controls the food supply controls the people; he who controls the energy can control whole continents; he who controls money can control the world.” – Widely Attributed to Henry Kissinger …
Probabilistic Genotyping on Trial: Can We Trust 
the Secret Algorithms Deciding Guilt?
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: DNA Testing/Samples, Crime Labs, Blood Samples/Tests, Scientific Testimony or Evidence
Probabilistic Genotyping on Trial: Can We Trust the Secret Algorithms Deciding Guilt? by Michael Thompson DNA evidence has long been hailed as the gold standard of forensic science—unassailable, precise, and definitive. But what happens when that gold standard is processed through proprietary algorithms that operate in secrecy, shielded from scrutiny …
News in Brief
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Assault by Police, Misconduct/Corruption, Guard Misconduct, Police Misconduct, Stun Guns/Tasers, Immigration, False Arrest, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of
News in Brief by Alabama: Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith faces six misdemeanor counts after a grand jury indicted him on May 30, 2025, for knowingly employing uncertified personnel. WBRC in Birmingham reported that Smith’s second-in-command, Chief Deputy Ralph Williams, was also indicted on one count of providing false or …
U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments 
to Resolve Circuit Conflicts
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Criminal History, Arrest/Arraignment, Sentence Enhancements/Departures
U.S. Sentencing Commission Adopts 2025 Amendments to Resolve Circuit Conflicts by David Kim On April 30, 2025, the United States Sentencing Commission submitted amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines to Congress, set to take effect on November 1, 2025, absent congressional action. These amendments address two significant circuit court conflicts …
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
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Mootness, Counsel - Withdrawal/Substitution of, Self-representation
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 The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that the defendant had clearly and unequivocally asserted his Sixth Amendment …
Illinois Supreme Court Announces Conviction 
for Attempted First Degree Murder Requires 
‘Intent to Kill Without Lawful Justification
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Jury Instructions, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Inconsistent
Illinois Supreme Court Announces Conviction for Attempted First Degree Murder Requires ‘Intent to Kill Without Lawful Justification by Jeffrey Cohen The Supreme Court of Illinois held that a conviction for attempted first degree murder requires proof that the defendant acted with the intent to kill without lawful justification, rejecting the …
Summary of the 2025 Drug Offenses Amendment 
by the U.S. Sentencing Commission
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Methamphetamine, Drug Mule, Machine Guns, Safety Valve
Summary of the 2025 Drug Offenses Amendment by the U.S. Sentencing Commission by David Kim 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 …
First Circuit: Prosecutor’s Breach of Plea Agreement 
Requires Government’s Specific Performance of Agreement, 
Not Specific Performance by District Court
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Failure to Recommend the Sentence Promised, Plain Error, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Acceptance/Rejection by the Court
First Circuit: Prosecutor’s Breach of Plea Agreement Requires Government’s Specific Performance of Agreement, Not Specific Performance by District Court by David Reutter The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated a defendant’s sentence due to the prosecutor’s breach of the parties’ plea agreement, and the Court ordered …
The Flawed Science of Cannabis Impairment Detection: 
The Need for Evidence-Based Reform
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Drug Testing, War on Drugs, Marijuana Laws/Issues, Drug Laws/Offenses
The Flawed Science of Cannabis Impairment Detection: The Need for Evidence-Based Reform by David Kim As state after state abandons the failed experiment of marijuana prohibition, a critical public safety challenge remains largely unaddressed: how do we accurately and fairly identify individuals whose cannabis use has rendered them dangerously impaired …
Tenth Circuit Announces Motor Vehicles Are Not Per Se Instrumentalities of Interstate Commerce Under Commerce Clause for Purposes of the Federal Kidnapping Statute
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Commerce Clause, Kidnapping, Abduction or Unlawful Restraint, Interstate Commerce
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 The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that motor vehicles are not per se instrumentalities of interstate commerce for purposes …
DEA’s Secret Phone Surveillance Program ‘Hemisphere’ 
Sparked Internal Warnings—Then a Cover-Up
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights
DEA’s Secret Phone Surveillance Program ‘Hemisphere’ Sparked Internal Warnings—Then a Cover-Up by Charles "Keith" Wampler When it was discovered that the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) had obtained access to billions of American phone records through a program they called “Hemisphere,” advocates for civil liberties were not convinced—in spite of assurances …
Fourth Circuit Announces Sentencing Disparity 
Between Defendant and Co-Defendants Alone Constitutes ‘Extraordinary and Compelling’ Reason Sufficient 
to Justify Compassionate Release
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Sentencing Disparity, Failure To Consider Disparity, Length of Co-Defendant's Sentence, Disparity Among Co-Defendants, Compassionate Release
Fourth Circuit Announces Sentencing Disparity Between Defendant and Co-Defendants Alone Constitutes ‘Extraordinary and Compelling’ Reason Sufficient to Justify Compassionate Release by David Kim 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 …
Nebraska Supreme Court Clarifies Procedure for Crediting 
Jail Time to Multiple Contemporaneously-Imposed Sentences
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Good Time, Credits, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences
Nebraska Supreme Court Clarifies Procedure for Crediting Jail Time to Multiple Contemporaneously-Imposed Sentences by Matthew Clarke In a case of first impression, the Supreme Court of Nebraska clarified the procedure to be used when crediting time spent in pretrial incarceration against multiple contemporaneously-imposed sentences pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 83-1.106, …
AI Honeypots: Police Are Using Chatbots to Pose 
as Teens and Sex Workers to Entrap Suspects
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Mechanical Searches/Scanners, Computer Searches, Entrapment, Government Deception and Trickery
AI Honeypots: Police Are Using Chatbots to Pose as Teens and Sex Workers to Entrap Suspects by Michael Thompson The surveillance state has a new tool in its arsenal that takes advantage of advances in AI large language models. Only, this chatbot’s conversations could land people in prison. The product …
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 Va...
Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025
Filed under: Retroactivity, First Step Act, Resentencing, Recidivist Enhancements, Stacking Mandatory Minimum Sentences
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 The Supreme Court of the United States held that when an offender convicted under § 924(c) had been sentenced …
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