"Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein Leader, Won’t Face Prosecution Over 1972 Murder"

From The New York Times: Northern Ireland’s public prosecution service said that it would not bring charges against Mr. Adams, or six others who had been questioned by the police, because there was little hope of securing a conviction in...

Cassidy on Silencing Grand Jury Witnesses

R. Michael Cassidy (Boston College Law School) has posted Silencing Grand Jury Witnesses (Indiana Law Journal, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The investigations of local police officers for causing the deaths of unarmed civilians in Ferguson, Missouri and...

"Mother of Patrick Kane’s Accuser Lied About Evidence Tampering, District Attorney Says"

This bizarre story is from The New York Times: At a news conference at his office, the district attorney, Frank A. Sedita III, broke a self-imposed public silence to describe the mother’s claims that she had found an evidence bag...

"Fifth Amendment protects passcode on smartphones, court holds"

Orin Kerr has this post at The Volokh Conspiracy. In part: I think the Huang court is wrong because the government did not seek an order forcing the defendants to hand over records of insider trading. If that had been...

Davids & McMahon on Misconduct in Public Office

Cindy Davids and Marilyn M McMahon (Deakin University - Deakin Law School and Deakin University - Deakin Law School) have posted Police Misconduct as a Breach of Public Trust: The Offence of Misconduct in Public Office (Deakin Law Review, vol....

"Slouching in the wrong neighborhood leads to a stop — and a decade in jail"

Orin Kerr has this post at The Volokh Conspiracy, excerpting a recent Sixth Circuit case and concluding, "Judgments about reasonable suspicion are always about line-drawing and inference. With that said, I think this decision is wrong."

Ghosal & Sokol on Cartel Prosecutions

Vivek Ghosal and D. Daniel Sokol (Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Florida - Levin College of Law) have posted Policy Innovations, Political Preferences, and Cartel Prosecutions on SSRN. Here is the abstract: While price-fixing cartel prosecutions have received...

"Suit Alleges ‘Scheme’ in Criminal Costs Borne by New Orleans’s Poor"

From The New York Times: On Thursday, Ms. Cain joined five other plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the criminal district court here, among others, alleging that judges and court officials have been running an “illegal scheme” in which poor...

Kerrison on Race-Based Medicalization of Addiction

Erin M Kerrison (University of Pennsylvania - Jerry Lee Center of Criminology) has posted White Claims to Illness and the Race-Based Medicalization of Addiction for Drug-Involved Former Prisoners (Harvard Journal on Racial & Ethnic Justice, Vol. 31, 2015) on SSRN....

"HRW challenges UK surveillance"

From Jurist: Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website], along with three anonymous individuals,filed a complaint [text, PDF] Monday alleging that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is violating their rights by sharing communications with the US National Security Agency (NSA) [official...

Cunneen & Godson on Restorative Justice

Chris Cunneen and Barry Goldson (University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Faculty of Law and University of Liverpool - Criminology and Social Policy) have posted Restorative Justice? A Critical Analysis (In: B...

Jenks on Law Enforcement Drone Use

Chris Jenks (Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law) has posted State Labs of Federalism and Law Enforcement 'Drone' Use (Washington and Lee Law Review, Vol. 72, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article reviews and assesses...

Bowers on Plea Bargaining's Baselines

Josh Bowers (University of Virginia School of Law) has posted Plea Bargaining's Baselines (William & Mary Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this symposium essay, I examine the Court’s unwillingness to take seriously the issue of...

"California Legislature Approves Assisted Suicide"

From The New York Times: The California bill is modeled on the law in Oregon, with several notable changes. The California law would expire after 10 years and have to be re-approved, and doctors would have to consult in private...

Bandes on Victims and the Expression of Emotion in Criminal Justice

Susan A. Bandes (DePaul University - College of Law) has posted Share Your Grief But Not Your Anger: Victims and the Expression of Emotion in Criminal Justice (In Emotional Expression: Philosophical, Psychological, and Legal Perspectives, Cambridge University Press (Joel Smith...

"Raymond Kelly, Ex-Police Commissioner, Blames Mayor de Blasio for Rise in Killings"

From The New York Times: Former Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said last week that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s constraints on the stop-and-frisk strategy of the Bloomberg administration was to blame for the uptick in murders in New York City....

Birckhead on The New Peonage

Tamar R. Birckhead (University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill - School of Law) has posted The New Peonage (Washington and Lee Law Review, Vol. 72, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Although the Thirteenth Amendment to the...

Brodin on the George Zimmerman Trial

Mark S. Brodin (Boston College - Law School) has posted The Murder of Black Males in a World of Non-Accountability: The Surreal Trial of George Zimmermann for the Killing of Trayvon Martin on SSRN. Here is the abstract: A critique...

Bennett on A Juror Bill of Rights

Mark W. Bennett (U.S. District Court (Northern District of Iowa)) has posted Reinvigorating and Enhancing Jury Trials Through an Overdue Juror Bill of Rights: WWJW — What Would Jurors Want? — A Federal Trial Judge's View (Arizona State Law Journal,...

"Justice Dept. to Require Warrants for Some Cellphone Tracking"

From The New York Times: The Justice Department will regularly require federal agents to seek warrants before using secretive equipment that can locate and track cellphones, the agency announced Thursday, the first regulations on an increasingly controversial technology. . ....

Brady and Crime-Stoppers Tips

Colin Miller has this post at EvidenceProfBlog. In part: Under this procedure, CrimeStoppers tip information would be given to the judge to review in camera. If the judge thought that this information contained possible Brady material, he would turn the...

"Court ordered DNA collection permissible solely to exclude persons from an investigation"

FourthAmendment.com links to and excerpts this Ninth Circuit opinion.

"After a Killing, Body Cameras Are Expanded in San Antonio"

From The New York Times: One day after a bystander’s cellphone video was released that appeared to show sheriff’s deputies fatally shooting a Hispanic man who had his hands raised in surrender, officials here voted Tuesday to finance additional body...