Fish, the Fourth Amendment, and the Scope of Consent

It's always a pleasant surprise to see legal disputes that involve fish for nonsensical reasons, particularly fish-related disputes that...

Ninth Circuit: Double Negatives Don't Matter

In an opinion sure to shock the conscience of grammar enthusiasts around the nation, the Ninth Circuit ruled that a defendant's statemen...

Video and the Future of Excessive Force Law

I just learned about the shooting and death of Philando Castile by police officers during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Buzzf...

Voisine and the Significance of Second Amendment Silence

The Supreme Court released an opinion today in Voisine v. United States (full opinion here ), a case described by Rory Little of SCOTUSblog...

In Washington, Your Trash is Private, But Not Your Abandoned DNA

So reports the Seattle Times: Seattle’s ordinance allowing garbage collectors to look through people’s trash — to make sure food scraps are...

Varriale v. State: DNA Submitted Without Express Limitation on Consent Can be Used to Investigate Other Crimes

So holds Maryland's Court of Appeals (the state's court of last resort), in Varriale v. State . The opinion can be found here . Here...

The Supreme Court's "Superspecial" Kimble Opinion

Today, the Supreme Court released several opinions, including Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment . Kimble involves the question of whether a par...

It is Legal to be Intoxicated on the Front Steps of a Private Residence in Iowa

So ruled the Iowa Supreme Court last week, holding that Iowa Code section 123.46(2) , which prohibits a person from being "intoxicated ...

Supreme Court Narrowly Decides Online Threats Case, Elonis v. U.S.

At long last, the Supreme Court has issued an opinion in Elonis v. United States . I blogged about the opinion back when the Court granted c...

Some Harsh Words on Dueling

While researching and writing a paper on arbitration by combat and Game of Thrones, I came across the case of Smith v. State , 9 Tenn. 228 ...