Illinois Supreme Court Rules That the Smell of Burnt Cannabis Does Not Justify a Warrantless Police Search of an Automobile In People v. Stout, a 1985 Illinois Supreme Court opinion, the Court held that law enforcement was permitted to search a vehicle without a...
Felonies
Self-Snitching? Chicago United States Attorney’s Office Announces New Individual Voluntary Self-Disclosure Program
Pilot Program Encourages Self-Disclosure of Non-Violent Criminal Conduct Has self-snitching become normalized? The government seems to think so and is encouraging it. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois recently announced a new,...
Junk Science Remains a Problem in Criminal Courts
Texas Set to Execute Man Based on Disproven “Shaken Baby Syndrome” Theory Next month, Robert Roberson is scheduled to be executed in Texas based on his conviction for killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002 after medical experts testified at his trial that the...
Could Supreme Court Weigh in on AR-15 Bans in the Near Future?
Appellate Court Decision Provides Pathway for High Court Review We have previously covered that the United States Supreme Court has consistently declined to intervene and hear the current challenge to the Illinois state law that bans AR-15s which was passed in wake of...
FDA Approves Clinical Trial for AI Discovered Psychedelic
FDA Gives Early-Stage Approval for Psychedelic Used to Treat Mental Health Issues Psychedelics are enjoying a surge of interest from pharmaceutical companies looking to explore their potential for treatment of several mental health issues, from addiction to PTSD....
Gun Regulation in Illinois Continues to Grab Headlines
Federal Judge Rules Public Transportation Gun Ban Unconstitutional As we have previously covered, there has been a flurry of litigation when it comes to Illinois’ gun laws at both the state and federal level, as advocates on both sides of the issue continue to push...
Illinois Government Agencies Use of Controversial AI Technology
CTA Using Artificial Intelligence Surveillance Program to Identify Guns in Stations Earlier this month the Chicago Transit Authority (“CTA”) announced that it was currently one month into a year long pilot program with the private company ZeroEyes, a company that...
Post-Arrest Swabs Are Legal But Are They Justified?
Concerns of Police Overstepping When Collecting DNA Samples Post Arrest Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that law enforcement can take DNA samples from arrestees after an arrest is not a violation of an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. the practice has...
Illinois Police Departments Show Troubling Patterns in Use of Traffic Stops
Investigation Finds Chicago Police Officers Routinely Fail to Report Traffic Stops A recent investigation by a watchdog organization found that Chicago Police officers have routinely failed to document instances of traffic stops that do not end in arrest or charges,...
Federal Government May Be Violating Your Fourth Amendment Rights
Concerns Raised Over Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Buying Peoples’ Data It is becoming increasingly apparent that the government may be circumventing the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches by buying up large amount of data from third parties...