The Supreme Court of the United States issued one decision today: Barnes v. Felix, No. 23-1239: This criminal procedure case concerns the proper scope of analysis for Fourth Amendment excessive force claims....more
Key Points: Use of Deadly Force: The court upheld the police officers’ use of deadly force, which is relevant for insurance coverage in similar incidents. Municipal Liability: No liability for the defendant as there was no...more
Defendant and his co-conspirators firebombed an informant’s house and killed several individuals. Six weeks into their trial on related charges, the Government disclosed that one of the defense attorneys previously worked as...more
Law enforcement critics have launched concerted attacks on the doctrine of qualified immunity in an effort to mischaracterize the doctrine as allowing police officers to escape liability for clearly unconstitutional conduct. ...more
On February 19, 2020, the New Jersey Appellate Division issued a decision Digital First Media v. Ewing Township permitting a newspaper access under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) to Use of Force Reports (UFR)...more
Precedential Opinions of Note - Court Remands Habeas Petition for Evidentiary Hearing on Potential Constitutional Violations - BACKGROUND - A jury convicted Defendant of burglary, robbery, and felony-murder. The...more
A while back I wrote about the collateral order doctrine as discussed by the Fourth Circuit in Williams v. Strickland. Williams involved an alleged excessive force claim against a law enforcement officer and an...more
Under the Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA), also known as the “whistleblower statute,” it is unlawful to fire an employee “solely for refusing to participate in, or for refusing to remain silent about, illegal...more
The US Supreme Court issued an Opinion April 2, 2018 (Kisela v. Hughes) that a Tucson Police officer was justified in shooting a woman who was holding a knife near her roommate after the woman was reported exhibiting...more
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a Tucson police officer who shot a woman four times could not be sued for violating the woman’s Constitutional rights. The case is a significant win for government officials. It’s a...more