Ex-Cop Pleads Guilty in Post-Katrina Killings - Former police lieutenant Michael Lohman pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the police officer killings of two and injuring of four civilians in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: Obstruction of Justice - Lohman's indictment charging conspiring to obstruct justice re: the "legally unjustified" killings of two and injuring of four civilians, post-Hurricane Katrina.
Real ID: Real Showdown? - Failure of South Carolina, Maine, Montana, and New Hampshire to request compliance extension re: the 2001 "Real ID" law may, come May 2008, stymie their residents' ability to fly or enter federal buildings (unless they present a passport or undergo "secondary screening").
TSA Booty, Part II: Money, Money, Money! - A passenger here, an empty pocket there proves that "spare" change left at airport security checkpoints adds up quite nicely.
TSA Booty, Part III: E-quipment Seizures - DHS's recently publicized (July 2008) suspicionless seizures policy at U.S. borders (which includes, inter alia, travelers' computers and components, cell phones, pagers, audio, video, and written material).
TESTIMONY: Laptop Searches (and other violations of Privacy) at the U.S. Borders - Transcript of statement by Peter Swire (Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress Action Fund and Professor of Law, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University) before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Property re: border agents' search and seizure of laptops and other computing devices returning to the U.S.
More Than 1 in 10 Americans: INCARCERATED - State and federal prisons and jails contain an all-time high of incarcerated individuals, making the U.S. the country that incarcerates at the highest rate in the world.
Unconstitutional: Baggy Pants Law(s)? - A law that criminalizes wearing baggy pants is under fire in Florida and the fashion industry weighs in with expert opinion.
The iPhone as a "Container?" ABSTRACT: Adam Gershowitz - Should the search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement allow police the ability to open a suspect's iPhone's multiple applications, including call history, cell phone contacts, e-mails, pictures, and browsing history?
Farewell, Exclusionary Rule? - Chief Justice Roberts may be on a "seek and destroy" mission re: the exclusionary rule.
Why Judicial Appointments Matter - A NYT treatment of Herring v. U.S. and the effects of Justice O'Connor's retirement, Justice Alito's appointment, and President Obama's administration upon the continued vitality of the Fourth Amendment and Exclusionary Rule.
"The Dilemma of the Criminal Defendant With a Criminal Record" - (SSRN abstract) John H. Blume (Cornell Law School) challenges "conventional wisdom" that innocent defendants will testify at their criminal trials, given the significant risk that impeachment of the defendants' credibility will also provide jurors the opportunity to infer present guilt based on past crimes.
GRAPHIC: Criminal Bagginess - How low can your pants go in Flint, Michigan? A police department chart depicting, inter alia, criminal bagginess -- leading to, if convicted, a minimum of 93 days to a maximum of one year in jail, and/or up to $500.00 in fines -- looks like.
Consent To A Warrentless Search of Your Home? - Boston police plan to seize illegal handguns via "requesting" warrantless home searches of parents who live with children in "high-crime areas."
Police Raid Mayor's Home and Kill His Pets - Detailed story of suburban D.C. mayor's home being invaded and dogs shot dead by law enforcement officers without a warrant, yet on the trail of a delivered box left upon the mayor's front porch.
Informants: Lifeblood AND Poison? - Discusses -- by way of the recent arrests of Brooklyn police officers -- the ethical, legal, and constitutional trickiness of police recruitment, cultivation, and management of confidential informants, aka "snitches."
Text-a-Cop? - NYC now allows the technology of the hand-held device to aid police and those reporting crime.
Maryland v. Shatzer - HELD: Edwards does not mandate suppression of statements gained after a break in Miranda custody (the defendant was an incarcerated prisoner) lasting more than two weeks between the first and second attempts at interrogation.
LAPD Maps Muslims - Documents reveal that the Los Angeles police department intends to use demographic data to identify "Muslims communities," sparking religious profiling criticism.
Biometrics: Bodies As National IDs? - Discussing "Next Generation Identification," the FBI's impending billion dollar expansion of its biometric database, aimed at increasing identification of suspects, domestically and abroad. Notes also the current use of biometrics by DHS (e.g., iris scans) at American airports, as well as potential use for police officers.
PODCAST: ACLU on FBI's New Domestic Spying Powers - Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald and the ACLU's Mike German discuss the new powers to conduct, inter alia, suspicionless searches of Americans' activities.
TESTIMONY: Laptop Searches (and other violations of Privacy) at the U.S. Borders - Transcript of statement by Peter Swire (Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress Action Fund and Professor of Law, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University) before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Property re: border agents' search and seizure of laptops and other computing devices returning to the U.S.
"Personal Space Invaders": Slate.com - Identifies scientific and technological advances of 2007 that encroach upon, threaten, or potentially trump individual privacy. Also provides useful hyperlinks to related source information and articles (regarding, e.g., surveillance cameras, human chip implants, and mind-reading).
Harvey Weinstein's Garbage: Revealed! - Perusing the movie mogul's Tribeca trash uncovers intriguing communications about the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Moore,Bob Iger, Woody Allen, Alicia Keys, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Hilfiger, and the inimitable television reality show, "Project Runway."
GPS as an Investigatory Tool - Global positioning system devices increasingly used, by law enforcement and per Katz to investigate or develop criminal suspicion.
Police Using GPS in Crime-Solving - Police benefit from Americans' use of GPS and now rely upon this technology to track suspects' whereabouts and thereabouts in furtherance of criminal investigations.
Officer "Hunch" or Proper Policing? - A detective relies upon her faimiliarity with a neighborhood's funeral home folkways and a rape victim's description to nab a suspect.
SLIP OPINION: Herring v. U.S. (2009) - The Court's recent search and seizure decision. Among other things, "suppression is not an automatic consequence of a Fourth Amendment violation" and "the jury should not be barred from considering all the evidence."
MARYLAND V. SHATZER - SLIP OPINION: Discussing admissibility of a statement gained after more than two weeks' break between Miranda interrogations.
OPINION: Maryland v. Shatzer - HELD: Edwards does not mandate suppression of statements gained after a break in Miranda custody (the defendant was an incarcerated prisoner) lasting more than two weeks between the first and second attempts at interrogation.
ABSTRACT: The iPhone Meets the Fourth Amendment, Adam Gershowitz - Should the search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement allow police the ability to open a suspect's iPhone's multiple applications, including call history, cell phone contacts, e-mails, pictures, and browsing history?
South Carolina Troopers Use Cruisers to Hit Suspects - Video footage via dashboard-mounted cruiser cameras record South Carolina troopers' race-based policing tactic of intentionally hitting Black suspects fleeing on foot.
Crack Tax? - New York's governor proposes a tax on marijuana, heroin, and cocaine; prepaid "tax stamps" would be affixed to bags of the substances, indicating that the dealer has complied with the tax law.
Officer Fido? - Dogs as "sworn police officers." Some do "take the oath!"
WalMart vs. Fourth Amendment - Detroit, MI police officer offer cash, Wal-Mart and Target gift certificates to a family of suspected squatters that officers had seized, beaten, and verbally assaulted with racial epithets.
Don't tase ME, Bro!" - Officer sues his former employer over its "training by tasing" policy, claiming the mandatory shocking violates his constitutional rights.
Contacts Between Police and the Public - 2007 Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report that discusses results of 2005 Police-Public Contact Survey re: civilian/police face-to-face encounters (e.g., traffic stops), use of force, civilian satisfaction, as well as race, ethnicity, and gender
All Shook Up: Police Vehicles That Rumble - Washington D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department upgrades its fleet by adding vehicles equipped with the "Rumbler," a device that emits a vibrating frequency felt up to 200' away in order to assist police emergency travel.
MA High Speed Chase Policy - Pursuit vs. public safety: how Massachusetts balances these interests in police high-speed chases.
DNA Swabbing at Traffic Stops? - Daytona Beach, FL police search for a serial killer via oral DNA testing of stopped motorists.
Officer Suspended for Fighting Ambulance Driver - Oklahoma highway patrol officer captured on cell phone and dash cam footage suspended for fighting without provocation an ambulance driver pulled over by the officer.
RAW VIDEO: BART Transit Officer Kills Rider - Cell phone camera footage of BART transit officer shooting and killing subway passenger, Oscar Grant. Clip shows witness who videotaped the encounter with her cell phone explaining the course of events leading up to and after the shooting.
VIDEO: Cops Planting Drugs on Suspect? - You be the judge. Dash cam films a traffic stop and Terry (perhaps) frisk(s) of a suspect. During the searching of the suspect (and use of force via repeated canine dog bites), one officer signals another, leading to the searching officer's movement to his own pocket, back to the suspect's pant pocket, and the sudden declaration of "found" marijuana.
Secret Warrants Issued Without Probable Cause - courts divide on the issuance of secret warrants to allow federal agents' tracking of individuals' cellphones via the Pen Register and Stored Communications statutes on less than probable cause.
Identity Theft, Drug Smuggling, and No-Knock (or not) Warrant? - Questions arise after local police execute a no-knock entry of local mayor's home, kill his family's Labrador retrievers, and attempt to connect the mayor and his wife to a package containing 32 lbs. of marijuana delivered to the home . . . by the police.
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