She 'Came at Me With Boiling Water,' a Cop Charged With Murder Claims, Contradicting What Video Shows
An Illinois sheriff's deputy with a spotty employment history shot Sonya Massey in the face after responding to her report of a prowler.
Search and Seizure
The DEA Claims To Be Able To Search Your Bag Without Your Consent. But Can They?
Recent footage shows a federal agent attempting to search a citizen’s bag without their consent, despite precedent saying that’s illegal.
A Federal Judge Rejects the Lame Excuses of Texas Cops Who Kidnapped a Supposedly 'Abandoned' Teenager
The decision clears the way for a jury to consider Megan and Adam McMurry's constitutional claims against the officers who snatched their daughter.
"What Happens … When Two School Employees Suspect That Their Colleague is Under the Influence
"of prescription medication, search her bag without permission, and find a firearm inside? And what happens when school board officials find out and want to question the perpetrator? Has the Fourth Amendment been transgressed?"
Michigan Supreme Court Allows Evidence Collected by Drone, Without a Warrant
The court declined to address whether the search violated the Fourth Amendment and merely held that the evidence could not be excluded in a civil case.
A Texas Reporter Busted for Asking Questions Asks SCOTUS To Reject the Criminalization of Journalism
Priscilla Villarreal is appealing a 5th Circuit decision that dismissed her First Amendment lawsuit against Laredo police and prosecutors.
Appeals Court Rules That Cops Can Physically Make You Unlock Your Phone
The 9th Circuit determined that forcibly mashing a suspect's thumb into his phone to unlock it was akin to fingerprinting him at the police station.
Judge Quashes Felony Murder Charges Against Former Houston Cop Whose Lies Led to a Deadly 2019 Drug Raid
Gerald Goines' lawyers argued that the indictment did not adequately specify the underlying felony of tampering with a government document.
Louisiana Law Lets Wildlife Agents Trespass on Private Property
A lawsuit from the Institute for Justice claims the law violates the Louisiana Constitution.
Pennsylvania Police Settle Lawsuit With Woman Forced to Undergo 'Humiliating' Strip-Search
Even though police found no signs of drugs or other contraband, Holly Elish was strip-searched by Pennsylvania police officers.
A Florida Cop Gets Into a Shootout With an Acorn, Emptying His Gun Into His Own Patrol Car
Deputy Jesse Hernandez, whose bullets miraculously missed the handcuffed suspect in the car, resigned during an investigation that found he "violated policy."
Qualified Immunity Is Not Limited to Police Brutality. It Protects a Wide Variety of Abusive Officials.
An analysis of appeals involving the doctrine finds that less than a quarter "fit the popular conception of police accused of excessive force."
Cops Arrested Him for a Fictitious Traffic Violation Because He Flipped Them Off
A federal judge allowed a lawsuit against the officers to proceed, finding evidence of several constitutional violations.
Texas Cops Held a Terrified Couple at Gunpoint After Raiding the Wrong House
Tyler Harrington has filed a lawsuit after four police officers burst into his home in the middle of the night.
He Was Arrested for Making a Joke on Facebook. A Jury Just Awarded Him $205,000 in Damages.
The verdict vindicates the constitutional rights that Louisiana sheriff's deputies flagrantly violated when they hauled Waylon Bailey off to jail.
The 5th Circuit Says Criminalizing Journalism Is Not Obviously Unconstitutional
The appeals court dismissed a civil rights lawsuit by a Laredo gadfly who was arrested for asking questions.
5 Years After a Deadly Drug Raid, Houston's Former Police Chief Might Finally Be Held Accountable
Since leaving Houston, Art Acevedo has bounced from job to job, continuing a spotty career marred by scandal.
Appeals Court: FBI's Safe-Deposit Box Seizures Violated Fourth Amendment
Cases like this are exactly why the Fourth Amendment was adopted in the first place, wrote federal Judge Milan D. Smith Jr.
Who Killed Elijah McClain? Mixed Verdicts Reflect a Cascade of Ultimately Fatal Mistakes.
Juries convicted two paramedics and one police officer of criminally negligent homicide but acquitted two other cops.
Trump's Promise to 'Indemnify' Cops 'Against Any and All Liability' Is Absurd for 2 Reasons
Police officers already are routinely indemnified, and suing them for abuse is much harder than Trump claims.
Taxpayer-Subsidized Seminars Train Cops To Violate the Constitution
A report from New Jersey's comptroller criticizes Street Cop Training for encouraging illegal traffic stops.
Mississippi Sheriff Insists He Was Oblivious to His Drug Warriors' Long Pattern of Brutality
Years before a federal case shined a light on the problem, Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey should have known something was amiss.
Cops Stormed Into a Terrified Seattle Woman's Home. It Was the Wrong Address.
Elisabeth Rehn was about to take a bath when police officers kicked down her door, flooded into her apartment, and pointed their guns at her.
Illinois Family Files Lawsuit After Police Execute Wrong-Door Raid and Allegedly Detain Them for 6 Hours
"I asked them to show me a warrant; they didn't show me nothing," a grandmother said.
Odd Colorado Ruling Upholds Internet Keyword Search Warrant
Court says the warrant was “constitutionally defective” but grants police a “good faith” exception.
Should Governments Need a Warrant To Spy on You With a Drone?
The Michigan Supreme Court will hear opening arguments today in a case that could decide whether the practice is allowed.
Minnesota's Top Court Rebukes Cops Who Searched a Car After Claiming To Smell Pot That Wasn't There
In light of the state's marijuana reforms, the court says, the odor of weed is not enough to establish probable cause.
On Guns, Drugs, and National Security, Dianne Feinstein Was Consistently Authoritarian
The late California senator always seemed to err on the side of more government power and less individual freedom.
How Hippies Saved the Fourth Amendment
The Nixon administration did everything it could to curb antiwar activism. Then the courts said it had gone too far.
A Ruling Against a Man Arrested for a COVID-19 Joke Highlights the Influence of a Pernicious Analogy
A federal judge compared Waylon Bailey’s Facebook jest to "falsely shouting fire in a theatre."
'No Reasonable Officer' Would Have Arrested a Guy for a COVID-19 Joke, the 5th Circuit Says
The appeals court ruled that a Facebook post alluding to World War Z was clearly protected by the First Amendment.
Is Tou Thao More Culpable Than the Other Cops Who Helped Derek Chauvin Kill George Floyd?
The former Minneapolis officer's 57-month sentence is based largely on the premise that he was "in the best position" to save Floyd.
Kansas Cops Have 'Waged War on Motorists' by Subjecting Them to Pretextual Traffic Stops, a Federal Judge Says
The ruling draws back the veil on routine police practices that victimize innocent drivers.
David Sosa Says Mistakenly Arresting Him Twice Based on His Name Violated His Rights. Other David Sosas Agree.
The 11th Circuit rejected Sosa's constitutional claims, and he is asking the Supreme Court to intervene.
Chicago Police Raided at Least 21 Wrong Houses
But poor record keeping hides the real number.
Feds May Need Warrants To Search Cell Phones at the Border After All
Snooping through emails, video, and photos isn’t the same as stumbling on containers full of cocaine.
Ohio Cops Raided Afroman's House Looking for a Dungeon Because of a Bizarre Confidential Informant Tip
All they found was some cool cars and clothes.
A Connecticut Couple Challenges Warrantless Surveillance of Their Property by Camera-Carrying Bears
The lawsuit looks iffy in light of the Supreme Court's "open fields" doctrine.
Michigan Supreme Court To Decide If Government Can Warrantlessly Spy on You With Drones
The state court of appeals held previously that unconstitutionally collected evidence could still be used for civil enforcement.
Even After Legalization, Maryland Cops Wanted to Search People Based on the Odor of Pot. Legislators Said No.
Police have a long history of using the real or imagined smell of marijuana to justify outrageous invasions.
Coverage of Alabama Town's Predatory Fines and Seizures Earns Journalists a Pulitzer
The Brookside Police Department’s shakedown of travelers became a national news story and prompted federal lawsuits.
Texas House Overwhelmingly Approves Restrictions on No-Knock Warrants
Conservatives who support the bill recognize the conflict between unannounced home invasions and the Second Amendment.
The Louisville Cop Who Killed Breonna Taylor Has a New Law Enforcement Gig
Myles Cosgrove never faced criminal charges in connection with Taylor's death, but he was fired for his reckless use of deadly force.
Louisville Police Abuses Show Civil Liberties Are Meaningless Without Accountability
Supervisors and judges tolerated outrageous constitutional violations, including illegal searches and brutal assaults.
West Virginia Family Court Judge with History of Arranging Warrantless Searches Resigns
We may have finally discovered a limit to judicial immunity.
Why Did Other Cops Fail To Stop the Lethal Assault on Tyre Nichols?
"Active bystandership" training aims to overcome the pressures that discourage police officers from intervening when their colleagues use excessive force.
'There's Nothing There,' Biden Said the Day Before the FBI Found More Classified Documents in His House
If Trump's handling of government secrets was "totally irresponsible," how should we describe Biden's conduct?
11th Circuit Says a Judge Should Not Have Interfered With the FBI's Review of the Mar-a-Lago Documents
The appeals court says Donald Trump's status as a former president does not entitle him to special treatment.
