Police Shootings: Racial Identity Politics Sidestep the Conversation on Government Power
So-called “identity politics” have recently been at the heart of many political controversies in this country. From immigration policy to public spending, it seems that political spin doctors attempt to make each...
Recording Police Officers Leads to Two Separate Disorderly Conduct Charges
In two recent and separate incidents, individuals recording the actions of police officers were cited for “disorderly conduct” after testy exchanges between the person recording an the officer(s) being recorded. The...
Hobby Lobby Case Shows the Importance of Congressional Limits on the ‘Despotic Branch’
“The Constitution… meant that its coordinate branches should be checks on each other. But the opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves in...
U.S. Supreme Court Moves to Protect Cell Phone Data
In a unanimous opinion announced earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers must obtain a warrant to search a cell phone that is seized incident to an arrest. The case stemmed from the 2009 arrest of David...
New ACLU Report on Police Militarization Highlights Problems, Proposes Solutions
After over a year of investigation, surveying law enforcement agencies in 26 states, the ACLU has now released its report on police militarization. “Neighborhoods are not war zones,” the report reads, “and our...
11th Circuit Court of Appeals: Warrant Required for Cell Phone Location
Today the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in the case of United States v. Quartavious Davis that may impact the policy landscape relative to fourth amendment application in the digital age. The case was...