Recently, a report appeared in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest that indicated large variability in what psychological tests are being allowed in American courts. These tests are used in both civil and criminal cases and can have enormous...
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Criminal Defense
Supreme Court guarantees unanimous jury in serious criminal cases
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution doesn't specifically grant criminal defendants the right to a unanimous jury, but the protection is so fundamental to justice that it is assumed. This is according to a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court led by Justice Neil...
Supreme Court: It’s reasonable to assume a driver is car’s owner
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits "unreasonable" searches and seizures by the government, including police officers. A search or seizure can be anything from a momentary stop to a full search and arrest. Over the years, courts have...
Supreme Court: States may determine their own insanity defenses
Traditionally, the insanity defense has been available in two situations: Due to a mental illness or defect, the defendant could not keep his actions within the dictates of the law. Due to a mental illness or defect, the defendant could not appreciate the wrongfulness...
Can the police test shed skin cells for DNA evidence?
Human beings leave behind DNA wherever we go. We shed skin. We sneeze out DNA-containing droplets. We shed hairs. We can't avoid it.Now, DNA testing has reached the point where the police could start testing this unavoidably-shed DNA and using it in criminal cases....
Law enforcement increasingly using ‘reverse search warrants’
Traditionally, search warrants only went one direction. A crime was committed or suspected, and the police would investigate. Witnesses would be contacted. A theory would be developed. When the police had probable cause to search for evidence, they got a search...
Study: Many junk psychology tests are being admitted as evidence
In 2009, the National Research Council issued a report on forensic analysis in court. It found that few forensic investigative techniques are supported by sufficient science.The Federal Rules of Evidence require judges to admit evidence from expert witnesses, like...
Do bail risk assessment tools reduce unnecessary pretrial holds?
Many people agree that our criminal justice system relies too much on pretrial detention -- keeping people in jail because they are assigned bail they can't afford. Ideally, we could tell who is a flight risk and who is a danger to the community in some logical way...
Arrests, jail more common in rural and small/midsize counties
As we consider the causes of mass incarceration in the United States, we start with the knowledge that crime has been dropping since the mid-1990s. That should mean that arrest rates are also dropping, but that isn't always the case.Furthermore, 25 years ago, the...
Plea bargaining is not a level playing field
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court said that "plea bargaining . . . is not some adjunct to the criminal justice system; it is the criminal justice system."Over 95% of all criminal charges in the U.S. are resolved via plea bargain. That's not simply because bringing all...
