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Federal Government Circumventing Fourth Amendment by Buying Data From Data Brokers by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso Federal law enforcement agencies have been paying private companies for the information they collect on users—information for which agents would need a warrant to collect themselves. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in …
Article • March 15, 2025 • from CLN April, 2025
California Police Misused State Databases Over 7,000 Times in 2023 by James Mills by James Mills C alifornia law enforcement agencies violated rules governing access to criminal justice databases 7,275 times in 2023, according to records obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”). These violations highlight systemic issues in the …
‘Fictional Pleas’ and ‘Hidden Departures’: Failure to Collect Data on Binding Federal Plea Bargains Hinders Researchers by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Are federal courts participating in a legal fiction during sentencing proceedings to maintain a peculiar but potentially necessary mechanism to resolve criminal cases without a jury? That …
Article • December 15, 2024 • from CLN January, 2025
You’d Better Watch Out: The Surveillance State Is Making a List, and You’re On It by John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead by John & Nisha Whitehead "He sees you when you’re sleeping He knows when you’re awake He knows when you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness’ …
Article • December 1, 2024 • from CLN December, 2024
Filed under: Databases, DNA Evidence
Forensic Genetic Genealogy: Police Are Searching Genetic Genealogy Companies’ Databases Regardless of Whether They Have Permission by Matthew Clarke, Ann Foster by Matt Clarke with research assistance by Ann Foster Millions of people have submitted oral cheek (buccal) swab samples to companies like 23andMe and Ancestry hoping to use their …
Article • September 1, 2024 • from CLN September, 2024
Law Review Article Reports Metadata on Victims of Coercive Plea Bargaining by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke An article published in the American University Law Review examines victims of coercive plea bargaining using extensive data from psychological studies and surveys. In doing so, it goes beyond the obvious victims—innocent defendants …
Article • June 15, 2024 • from CLN June, 2024
Report Finds Inaccurate Field Drug Tests Major Cause of Wrongful Convictions by Matthew Clarke by Matthew T. Clarke   A report published in January 2024 by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey School of Law revealed that false positives in presumptive …
Article • June 15, 2024 • from CLN June, 2024
DOJ Creates Database to Track Federal Law Enforcement Officers Accused of Misconduct by Sam Rutherford by Samuel Rutherford   As reported by the Associated Press, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the creation of a database designed to track serious misconduct complaints against federal law enforcement officers. The purpose of …
Article • April 15, 2024 • from CLN April, 2024
The FBI’s Rapidly Expanding DNA Database by Anthony Accurso 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 …
Article • April 15, 2024 • from CLN April, 2024
Police Bodycams: If You Film It … by Michael Thompson by Michael Dean Thompson One hundred petabytes is a difficult quantity to comprehend. In plain English, that is about 113 quadrillion or 113 followed by 15 zeroes. According to ProPublica, that is the rough data equivalent of 25 million copies …
A Legal Argument Against Government Purchase of Location Data by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The lack of effective privacy legislation covering the U.S.—combined with the occasional, poorly worded limitations imposed by the courts—has led to the current situation where law enforcement and other government agencies have been purchasing …
Article • November 1, 2023 • from CLN November, 2023
ICE Employees Caught (Again) Misusing Access to Databases by Jordan Arizmendi by Jordan Arizmendi It seems every month, a new story emerges about how ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) egregiously abuses its power. Just a few weeks ago, Wired published an article about how ICE was improperly demanding data …
Article • November 1, 2023 • from CLN November, 2023
ICE Tramples Over the Judicial System by Jordan Arizmendi by Jordan Arizmendi ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The ICE website proclaims that its “primary focus” is “securing our nation’s borders and safeguarding the integrity of …
Article • October 1, 2023 • from CLN October, 2023
U.S. Sentencing Commission Publishes Compassionate Release Datafile for Fiscal Years 2020-­2022 by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian In September 2022, the U.S. ­Sentencing Commission (“USSC”) published its Compassionate Release Datafile (“Datafile”). The Datafile reported the statistics concerning motions for compassionate release filed between October 1, 2019, through March 31, …
Article • October 1, 2023 • from CLN October, 2023
We’re All Suspects in a DNA Lineup, Waiting to be Matched with a Crime by John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead By John & Nisha Whitehead August 21, 2023 “Make no mistake about it … your DNA can be taken and entered into a national DNA database if you are ever arrested, rightly …
Article • October 1, 2023 • from CLN October, 2023
Filed under: Databases, Pro Se Issues
‘Data for Defenders’: Valuable New Resource for Defense Counsel and Pro Se Litigants by Jordan Arizmendi by Jordan Arizmendi A new open access database called “Data for Defenders,” a project of MDefenders program at the University of Michigan Law School, is a valuable tool for defenders. The resources available in …
Article • October 1, 2023 • from CLN October, 2023
Database Containing 450,000 Records of NYPD Misconduct Now Available by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In June 2023, the Legal Aid Society made available to the public a new database with over 450,000 searchable records of New York Police Department (“NYPD”) and Department of Corrections (“DOC”) officers with the goal …
Article • September 1, 2023 • from CLN September, 2023
Collaborative Project Between Innocence Project and National Registry of Exonerations Produces Interim Report Reconciling Data Coding Discrepancies by Casey Bastian by Casey J. Bastian The Innocence Project (“IP”) and the National Registry of Exonerations (“NRE”) each keep track of and list wrongful convictions. Each also works to identify the causes …
Article • September 1, 2023 • from CLN September, 2023
‘Lab in a Box’ Provides DNA Results in Minutes by Jordan Arizmendi by Jordan Arizmendi The method that law-enforcement agencies use to test a suspect’s DNA is currently undergoing the most significant transformation in the science’s history. New Rapid DNA technology can develop an individual’s DNA profile in one to …
Article • March 15, 2023 • from CLN April, 2023
Sensitive Information in Police Database Vulnerable to Hacking by Kevin Bliss by Kevin W. Bliss The law enforcement tech company, ODIN – which catalogs tactical plans for police raids, criminal investigation information, and the personal data of any person coming into contact with police whether as victim, criminal, or confidential …
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