'Irreparable': The Lasting Harm Of Justices' Temporary Orders

By Cara Bayles

The U.S. Supreme Court has considered dozens of emergency petitions involving executive policies since President Donald Trump's return to office. While justices often defend their emergency rulings as stop-gap measures, people at the center of those cases — who've lost their legal status, jobs, or federal funding — say that even interim decisions have had lasting effects on their lives.

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Ala. Ruling Leaves Executions In Uncharted Waters

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Last month, a federal district judge ruled that Alabama's nitrogen hypoxia execution protocol violated the Eighth Amendment, an unprecedented decision that upended the state's death penalty process. Now, death row prisoners who chose nitrogen execution face uncertainty as Alabama seeks to execute them instead by lethal injection.

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Q&A

Fordham Scholar On Neuroscience's Role In Criminal Courts

By Marco Poggio

Neuroscience has become an increasingly common feature of criminal litigation, shaping everything from death penalty mitigation to juvenile sentencing. Yet many of the assumptions surrounding brain science in the courtroom remain wrong, Fordham Law School Professor Deborah Denno told Law360.

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Pro Bono Spotlight

How Gibson Dunn Turned A Bitter Pill Into A Sweet Release

By Britain Eakin

Police officers in New York's Nassau County arrested a Honduran and turned him over to federal immigration officers this year after claiming a yellow pill found in his car was crack cocaine, an assertion that a federal judge found ludicrous. Here, Law360 examines how Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP seized on that yellow pill to show the man’s arrest was pretextual and secured his release from immigration detention.

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500-Member NYC Public Defender Union Ends Strike

By Andrea Keckley

The first and so far only New York City public defender union to go on strike this year announced on Wednesday that its approximately 500 members are returning to work after reaching a tentative agreement with their managers.

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Over 100 Legal Aid Staffers Strike In Harlem And The Bronx

By Andrea Keckley

Over 100 legal aid attorneys, social workers and advocates in Harlem and the Bronx went on strike Friday, with the possibility of more to come in the New York City area.

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Another NYC Public Defense Union Sets Strike Deadline

By Andrea Keckley

The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem union became the latest New York City-area legal aid union to set a strike deadline this week, announcing Monday that its over 100 members will walk off the job if they don't reach a deal with their managers by Friday at 8 a.m.

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Bronx Public Defenders Set Strike Deadline

By Emily Sawicki

More than 300 unionized workers at legal aid organization The Bronx Defenders are set to walk out on July 27 if they cannot agree on a contract with the legal nonprofit's management, according to a Tuesday announcement.

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Judge Refers Ex-Cop For Perjury, Witness Tampering Probe

By Brandon Lowrey

A Connecticut federal judge has referred a former New Haven police detective to federal prosecutors for investigation of witness tampering and perjury during a civil trial, in which jurors awarded a murder exoneree $38 million and determined the detective fabricated evidence of his guilt.

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6th Circ. Challenges Exoneree's Fabricated Evidence Claim

By Melanie Dorsey

A Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday questioned whether a Michigan man who spent more than two decades in prison before his assault convictions were vacated had done enough to revive his civil rights suit accusing Detroit police officers of fabricating and withholding evidence during the investigation that led to his arrest.

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Mental Health Agency Sues Mass. Prison System For Records

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts mental health legal advocacy committee has filed a lawsuit against the state's department of correction, claiming it was denied access to data about health services provided in one state prison by a private contractor.

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Data Capture Alone Doesn't Violate Calif. License Plate Law

By Rae Ann Varona

A California state appeals court has refused to revive a proposed class action that accused a vehicle location data company of unlawfully collecting drivers' data through automatic license plate readers, saying in a published opinion that the suit's plaintiff couldn't lean on his "subjective belief" that his privacy was invaded.

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Creek Freedmen Sue Tribe To Enforce Citizenship Ruling

By Crystal Owens

Members of the Muscogee Creek Black Freedmen are asking a federal court to block officials with Oklahoma's Muscogee (Creek) Nation from denying them citizenship, saying in a lawsuit brought Thursday that those governmental leaders are defying a tribal Supreme Court ruling that gave them the right.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Geofence Clarity, Post-Hunter Scrutiny

By Orlando Lorenzo

The U.S. Supreme Court deemed geofence warrants as searches under the Fourth Amendment, and the justices’ ruling in Hunter spurs a conversation of what the bar should be for criminal appeal waivers. Here, Law360 highlights access to justice stories arising from litigation, verdicts and judgments you may have missed.

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