In New Jersey as in most states, there is a sex offender registry that was created by a "Megan's Law." These laws were enacted after a 7-year-old girl, Megan Kanka, was raped and murdered by a man who had been convicted twice of sexual assault. The law requires all...
Month: November 2019
Illinois taking emergency steps to end child isolation punishments
Governor J.B. Pritzker has directed the Illinois State Board of Education to take emergency action and stop schools from isolating children behind locked doors as punishment. The Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois published an investigation of the punishment,...
New York Times investigation finds OWI breath tests unreliable
Each year in the United States, about a million people are pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving. In virtually all of those cases, the driver is asked to blow into a breathalyzer-style machine that estimates their blood-alcohol content. If it's above a certain...
Court: Border agents need reasonable suspicion to search devices
At the border and in international airports, ICE and the Customs and Border Protection service have been routinely rifling through people's computers and smart phones. Away from the border, law enforcement needs a warrant before it can search your phone or another...
Reports: Blood pattern analysis could use scientific improvement
In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a blockbuster report challenging the scientific underpinnings of many fields of forensic evidence. The report found that such evidence is rarely supported by rigorous study. Moreover, the analyses are often...