AI Video Pushes Boundaries Of Victim Impact Statements

By Sarah Martinson

At the beginning of May, an Arizona state court judge permitted an artificial intelligence-generated victim impact statement of a deceased victim at a sentencing hearing, leaving some attorneys concerned about how admitting these types of videos might affect sentencing in other cases.

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$28M Jury Verdict Shows The Power Of The Monell Doctrine

By Marco Poggio

A federal jury awarded $28 million to John Walker Jr., a man wrongfully convicted of murder nearly 50 years ago, after finding that prosecutors in Erie County, New York, systematically ignored criminal defendants' constitutional rights. The verdict hinged on the Monell doctrine, a hard-to-prove legal theory that allows civil rights plaintiffs to hold governments liable for constitutional violations stemming from official policy, custom, or widespread failure to supervise public officials.

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Analysis

Praying Or Parking? Religious Land Use Fights Head To Court

By Grace Dixon

Local zoning and planning boards, usually unelected decision-making bodies, often operate with sweeping discretion that can provide cover for discrimination against religious communities. But backed by pro bono attorneys, religious groups are leaning on a 2000 federal law in their bid for court intervention.

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More Californians Face Legal Issues, But Get Less Help

By Jack Karp

The gap between the need for civil legal services for Californians and the help that is actually available has grown over the past five years, as has the income level of those affected by that gap, according to a new study from the State Bar of California.

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Justices Say Context Matters When Evaluating Use Of Force

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a civil rights lawsuit against a Houston-area traffic officer who shot and killed a fleeing man, ruling that courts must weigh the full sequence of events — not just the instant a threat arises — when deciding if police used excessive force.

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Judge Opts For 'Remedial Manager' To Reform Rikers Jail

By Stewart Bishop

A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday stopped short of ordering a receiver to take control of Rikers Island in an effort to clamp down on incidents of excessive force against the jail population, instead opting for a "remediation manager" with more narrow powers to work in collaboration with city officials to reform the notorious jail complex.

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Suit Slams 'Abrupt And Unlawful' DOJ Grant Terminations

By Ali Sullivan

Five nonprofit and community organizations whose grants were terminated by the U.S. Department of Justice have launched a class action in D.C. federal court challenging the department's "abrupt and unlawful" cancellation of $820 million in grant funding.

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Oakland Cops Denied Immunity In Deadly High-Speed Chase

By Parker Quinlan

The Ninth Circuit ruled Friday that two Oakland police officers violated the rights of innocent bystanders and are not entitled to qualified immunity following a high-speed pursuit that left one person dead and several others injured.

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Perspectives

Shaping Warrantless Arrest Standard Post-Certiorari Denial

Though the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Gonzalez v. U.S. warrantless arrest case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor's statement regarding the denial suggests that the defense bar should continue pursuing federal court arguments that the Fourth Amendment incorporates an in-the-presence limitation, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

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Perspectives

Reading Tea Leaves In High Court's Criminal Law Decisions

The criminal justice decisions the U.S. Supreme Court will announce in the coming weeks will reveal whether last term’s fractured decision-making has continued, an important data point as the justices’ alignment seems to correlate with who benefits from a case’s outcome, says Sharon Fairley at the University of Chicago Law School.

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