More from this issue:

1. Demonstrable Remorse, Psychiatric Diagnoses, and Alternatives to Incarceration, by Casey Bastian
2. New Mexico Supreme Court Revises Rules Governing Pretrial Release, by Douglas Ankney
3. SCOTUS Announces Existence of Probable Cause for One Charge in Criminal Proceeding Does Not Categorically Defeat Fourth Amendment Malicious-Prosecution Claim Relating to Another Baseless Charge, by Sam Rutherford
4. Down with Big Brother: Warrantless Surveillance Makes a Mockery of the Constitution, by John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead
5. First Circuit: District Court’s One-Sentence Explanation for 10-Year Upward Departure From Sentencing Guidelines Range Insufficient to Justify Significant Variance, by Sam Rutherford
6. After California Cops Kill Someone, They Probe Families for Information on Deceased Before Telling Them Their Loved One Is Dead, by Douglas Ankney
7. SCOTUS Clarifies Nieves Exception to Lack of Probable Cause Requirement for First Amendment Retaliatory-Arrest Claim Does Not Require ‘Virtually Identical and Identifiable Comparators’, by Sam Rutherford
8. SCOTUS: Jury, Not Judge, Must Determine Whether Defendant’s Prior Offenses Were Committed on ‘Occasions Different From One Another’ for Enhanced Sentence Under Armed Career Criminal Act, by Sam Rutherford
9. FBI Encourages Use of Controversial Surveillance Program Despite Misuse, by Jo Ellen Nott
10. Texas Man Exonerated by DNA Evidence After 25 Years of Maintaining His Innocence, by Jo Ellen Nott
11. Third Circuit Orders Evidentiary Hearing on State Prisoner’s Petition Seeking Federal Habeas Relief Because Both State and Federal Courts Denied Relief Without Holding Hearing on IAC Claim That, if Proven, Would Entitle Him to Relief, by Douglas Ankney
12. Nevada Supreme Court Announces District Courts Have No Discretion to Deny Motion to Set Aside Judgment of Conviction Filed by Statutorily Qualified Defendants Under NRS 176A.240(6)(a), by Douglas Ankney
13. Don’t Stand Too Close to First Responders Under New Florida Law, by Douglas Ankney
14. First Circuit: Sentencing May Not Be Based Upon Unreliable Hearsay Testimony, by Anthony Accurso
15. California Supreme Court: Presence in High Crime Area and Desire to Avoid Contact With Police Does Not Amount to Reasonable Suspicion Justifying Detention for Suspected Criminal Activity, by Sam Rutherford
16. College and Post-Carceral Job Searches, by Michael Thompson
17. Kansas Supreme Court Severs ‘Noisy Conduct’ Law as Unconstitutionally Overbroad, by David Reutter
18. Big Money and Massive Surveillance: The Finance Industry’s Partnership With Federal Law Enforcement, by Douglas Ankney
19. Researchers Discover Wire-Cutting Evidence Is Too Unreliable for Court, by Douglas Ankney
20. For Signal, Privacy Is Not Merely a Buzzword, by Michael Thompson
21. Dozens of Prisoners in Colorado Notified About Potential Compromised DNA Evidence
22. Minnesota Sex Offender Program: The Indefinite Detention of the Reviled, by Casey Bastian
23. Louisiana Supreme Court Finds Prosecution Withheld Favorable Impeachment and Exculpatory Evidence in Violation of Brady, by Matthew Clarke
24. Dogs Are Sniffing Out Electronics, by Michael Thompson
25. False or Misleading Forensic Evidence Plays an Oversized Role in Wrongful Convictions, by Jo Ellen Nott
26. Tenth Circuit: Counsel Advising Black Defendant No Minorities Would Be on Jury Is Material Misrepresentation About Right to Impartial Jury Rendering Guilty Plea Unknowing and Involuntary, by David Reutter
27. The Prosecutor and the Snitch Ring, by Liliana Segura, Jordan Smith
28. News in Brief
29. Bluetooth Surveillance Tool Added to List of Known Cache of DHS’ Surveillance Technology, by Douglas Ankney

More from Sam Rutherford:

• Shelby County DA Oversees Retesting After Forensic Analyst’s Dismissal for ‘Unethical Conduct’, July 1, 2025
• Self-Harming Wisconsin Prisoner Settles Failure-to-Protect Suit for $7,000, April 1, 2025
• SCOTUS Clarifies It Had Already Been ‘Clearly Established Federal Law’ in 2004 for Purposes of AEDPA That Evidence at Trial Can Be So Prejudicial as to Violate Due Process, March 15, 2025
• Ninth and Tenth Circuits Find Bivens Extension Orders Not Immediately Appealable, March 1, 2025
• New Mexico Corrections Department Continues Pattern of Abuse With Contract Medical Provider Wexford Health Sources, Feb. 15, 2025
• Hawai’i Supreme Court Reverses Murder Conviction for Prosecutorial Misconduct Based on Prosecution’s Improper Statements During Closing Arguments, Feb. 15, 2025
• Third Circuit Grants Habeas Relief to Prisoner on Confrontation Clause and Ineffective Assistance Claims Based on Trial Court Reading Entire Criminal Information Into the Record of Co-Conspirator Who Pleaded Guilty, Feb. 15, 2025
• Fourth Circuit Decision on Claim of Retaliation for Exercising First And Sixth Amendment Rights Highlights Police Corruption, Feb. 15, 2025
• Washington DOC Physician Assistant Surrenders Medical License in Wake of Malpractice Allegations, Feb. 15, 2025
• California Court of Appeal Announces Defendants May Obtain Brady Evidence From Police Officers’ Personnel Files in Advance of § 1172.6 Hearing Requesting Vacatur of Conviction and Resentencing for Certain Types of Murder Convictions, Feb. 15, 2025

More from these topics:

• Massive $112 Million Jury Verdict for Detainees Held in New York Jail Past Release Date on ICE Detainers, Jan. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Detention - Generally, Unlawful Detention, Immunity - Sovereign/Municipal, Damages - Compensatory.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Opinion Announcing the Judgment of the Court): No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Unprotected Google Searches, Jan. 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Probable Cause, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Privacy Act/Rights, State Constitutional Claims.
• Ninth Circuit Announces Abandonment Doctrine Applies to Cellphones but Courts Must Analyze Intent to Abandon Device Separately From Intent to Abandon Data, Dec. 15, 2025. Fourth Amendment, rights, Cell-Phones, Motions To Suppress, Digital Devices, Seizure.
• For Delay in Summoning Medical Care for Detainees, Alabama Jailers Granted Immunity But California Trooper Headed to Trial, Nov. 1, 2025. Failure to Treat, Qualified Immunity, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Fourth Amendment, rights, Deliberate Indifference.
• DHS Has Been Quietly Collecting DNA From U.S. Citizens for Years, Funneling It Into FBI’s CODIS Without Oversight, Oct. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, Police State-Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights, Police/Govt Misconduct, Suspicionless Searches.
• Drones and License Plate Readers: Police Creating Warrantless Aerial Surveillance Networks, Oct. 15, 2025. Fourth Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Warrantless Searches, Curtilege, Electronic Surveillance.
• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announces Police Cannot Execute Anticipatory Warrant Absent Triggering Event Regardless of Whether Factual Allegations in Warrant Affidavit Independently Give Rise to Probable Cause to Search, Thereby Providing Greater, Oct. 15, 2025. Search warrants, Fourth Amendment, rights, Probable Cause, Execution, State Constitutional Claims.
• Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, Oct. 15, 2025. Civil Commitment, Exclusionary Rule, Pat Down Searches, Scope of Permissible Searches, Suspicionless Searches.
• 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., Sept. 15, 2025. Forensic Sciences, Fourth Amendment, rights, DNA Evidence, Advanced Imaging Technology.
• Colorado Supreme Court Announces Police Facilitating 
Drug-­Detection Dog’s Entry Into Vehicle by Opening Door 
During Traffic Stop Without Probable Cause Is Unconstitutional Search in Violation of Fourth Amendment, July 1, 2025. Fourth Amendment, rights, Drug-Sniffing Dog, Automobile Searches/Seizures.