At least 27 people in the United States have been exonerated after faulty bitemark matching put them behind bars — but not before they lost a combined total of 450 years of their lives to a forensic “science” never grounded in research. Forensic odontologists are…
Instead of using search warrants to get information about people’s activities, some federal agents may just go shopping. Taking advantage of what started as a marketing tool, federal law enforcement, intelligence and military agencies apparently are buying American and foreign citizens’ cell phone data from…
Nadia Alasaad had her iPhone searched twice at the border, both times over her religious objections to male Border Patrol officers viewing photos of her and her daughters without their headscarves. Zainab Merchant, founder and editor of a media website, had her phone searched multiple…
Court reform advocates and members of Congress want the federal courts to stop charging the public fees for access to court records. Congress may be on its way to making that a reality. Although the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would make access…
Los Angeles-based Venerable Injury Law, which specializes in personal injury, launched the first version of its ClaimTrack app two years ago. The app allows clients to do things like track their daily pain, schedule doctor’s appointments, receive reminders and view medical reports. One of the…
Ned Manning, an attorney for 30 years in North Carolina, had heard mentions over the decades that another lawyer from his small hometown of Kinston had argued a civil rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court. “Fred Harrison was a general practitioner and did criminal…
In an era of deep political division and more contentious confirmations of the three most recent justices, the arguments for cameras in the U.S. Supreme Court might be stronger than in past decades. It’s not a new idea. The first bill proposing to allow cameras…
Smartphone users may not know it, but their mobile devices could allow police and other government agents to track their whereabouts even if they’ve done nothing wrong. If you have a phone that uses Google apps — an estimated 97% of all smart phones in…
These days, your landlord doesn’t have to peep out the window like Gladys Kravitz to keep tabs on your every move. Constant surveillance is just a click and ‘two-day shipping’ away. From the Ring video doorbell to nanny cams to key fobs, the Internet of…
Sales of “ghost guns,” do-it-yourself kits that offer almost everything needed to build a gun, have been steadily rising for several years, but have reached new highs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous websites selling the so-called “80 percent” guns are apologizing for delays in filling…