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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 …
Illinois Supreme Court: Use of Flashlight by Police to See Through Small Gap in Chained and Padlocked Kitchen Cabinet Doors Constitutes ‘Search’ Under Fourth Amendment by Jeffrey Cohen The Supreme Court of Illinois reversed the Appellate Court’s denial of the defendant’s suppression motion, holding that contraband discovered by police inside …
Warrantless Device Inspections Surge at the U.S. Border by David Kim by David Kim Travelers entering the United States are facing intensifying scrutiny—not just of their luggage but of their smartphones, laptops, and other digital devices—as border agents increasingly conduct warrantless searches, sometimes copying personal data for further analysis. Civil …
Article • March 15, 2025 • from CLN April, 2025
EFF Launches Rayhunter: A New Tool to Detect Covert Cellular Surveillance by David Kim by David Kim The Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) has announced Rayhunter, an open-source tool designed to detect cell-site simulators (“CSS”), devices often used by law enforcement and others to covertly track mobile phones. Running on an …
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Defense Counsel Had Actual Conflict of Interest Where Own Performance During Police Interview of Defendant Could Serve as Basis of Motion to Suppress Based on Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, New Trial Required W by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts …
Article • February 15, 2025 • from CLN March, 2025
Study: DNA Transfer in Social Settings by Michael Thompson by Michael Dean Thompson With every breath you take, you shed DNA. It is in the skin cells that flake off your body by the millions, the hair that floats off as you walk, and the oil you leave behind on …
Ninth Circuit: Defense Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Move to Suppress Evidence Obtained as a Result of Police Officer Trespassing on Curtilage of Defendant’s Home by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted a federal prisoner’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion for habeas …
Illinois Supreme Court Announces Odor of Burnt Cannabis Alone Is Insufficient to Establish Probable Cause for a Warrantless Vehicle Search by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Supreme Court of Illinois invalidated an officer’s search of a vehicle and held that the odor of burnt cannabis, on its own, …
Article • February 1, 2025 • from CLN February, 2025
Study Highlights Limitations in Forensic DNA Analysis Involving Lower Genetic Diversity Groups by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Not A University of Oregon study, “Decreased accuracy of forensic DNA mixture analysis for groups with lower genetic diversity” published in Volume 27, Issue 11, 111067 of iScience in November 2024 …
Article • January 15, 2025 • from CLN January, 2025
Protect Yourself Against Police Invasion of Your Cellphone by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014), the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the reality that the amount of data people keep on their cellphones is almost beyond measure. The Riley Court ruled that police must …
Federal Law Enforcement Using Banks to Circumvent Warrant Requirement in Surveilling Sensitive Financial Data of Americans by James Mills by James Mills Federal law enforcement agencies have been gathering sensitive financial information of American citizens by manipulating the Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) system, according to the House Judiciary Committee. The …
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 …
Cell-Site Simulator Proposal: A Glimpse Inside the Black Box Whose Secrets Are Protected by NDAs and Obfuscation by Michael Thompson by Michael Dean Thompson The cell-site simulator (“CSS”) is a powerful and largely unregulated device once designed for military intelligence use that has found its way onto the streets of …
Article • November 1, 2024 • from CLN November, 2024
Seventh Circuit Announces Search of Cellphone at Border Constitutes Routine Inspection and Does Not Require Warrant, Probable Cause, or Even Individualized Suspicion by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the routine inspection and search of a traveler’s electronics, or for …
Article • October 1, 2024 • from CLN October, 2024
Fifth Circuit Announces Geofence Warrants Are Unconstitutional ‘Modern-Day General Warrants’ by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that geofence warrants violate the Fourth Amendment because they constitute a “general warrant.” However, the evidence acquired in the case as a result of …
Federal Judges Closing Loophole That Permits Government to Conduct Warrantless Searches of Cellphones at Border by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney In a series of rulings from federal judges, the loophole allowing government agents from Customs and Border Patrol (“CBP”) to search cellphones without a warrant is closing. According to …
Article • October 1, 2024 • from CLN October, 2024
Cops Want to Use DNA for Facial Recognition by Michael Thompson by Michael Dean Thompson Provide a DNA sample, and Parabon NanoLabs’ tech will generate a projected 3D image of a suspect’s face. The process takes advantage of AI trained on the DNA and 3D facial scans of thousands of …
Article • September 1, 2024 • from CLN September, 2024
DNA Databases, Privacy Concerns, and Noble Cause Bias by Michael Thompson by Michael Dean Thompson Networked Privacy and DNA Dana Boyd who was one of the first to describe the idea of Networked Privacy has pointed out that choice is not really individual in the network. That is, the choices …
Washington Court of Appeals Clarifies ‘Nexus’ Standard Authorizing Warrantless Searches of Parolees and Probationers by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The Court of Appeals of Washington, Division One, held that under the Washington Constitution, warrantless searches of parolees or probationers must have a nexus between the suspected violation of a …
Article • September 1, 2024 • from CLN September, 2024
Filed under: junk science, DNA Evidence
Years of Warnings Ignored as DNA Analyst at Colorado Crime Lab Allegedly Cut Corners, Her Misconduct Casts Doubt on Thousands of Cases by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott 20th Judicial District Court Judge Patrick Butler unsealed a troubling internal affairs report from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (“CBI”) …
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