Do you want the police to keep a record of everywhere you’ve ever been? It would be awfully convenient for the police to have that information. Law enforcement could simply make a list of places where illegal things are likely to happen or where certain people are not...
search and seizure
Should the police be allowed to access newborns’ DNA?
Our DNA contains a tremendous amount of sensitive, personal information. Not only about us, but about our family members. It can tell us who we’re related to, whether we have genetic disorders and even how likely we are to get certain cancers. According to one study,...
What will President Biden’s executive order on policing tactics do?
Recently, President Joe Biden signed an executive order meant, among other things, to restrict some of the more controversial tactics used by police. The order only applies federal law enforcement, but it could be used as a model for states to provide better...
Wisconsin Supreme Court allows end-run around lack of warrant
When the founders decided to require warrants before the government could search someone, what rights were they trying to protect? They wanted to free Americans from an intrusive government seeking to take their liberty without due process. They wanted to protect our...
Reports: Feds eager to buy predictive policing, phone-cracking tech
There is good reason to believe that predictive policing software simply reinforces past, biased information to predict crime. It is certainly under heavy scrutiny, as it seeks to predict in advance exactly who will commit crimes. It’s the subject of dystopian...
Cops need a warrant to search phones? Not for parolees, probationers
In 2014’s Riley v. California, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that law enforcement cannot search the contents of your phone without a warrant, even when they’re arresting you. The high court specifically found that modern cellphones are not like the contents...
Wisconsin high court: Cops can search phone data they already have
In 2016, George B. agreed to allow the Green Bay Police Department to review his phone for a hit-and-run investigation in which he was never charged. The consent form he signed didn’t specify exactly what the police would be allowed to download – and they downloaded...
Supreme Court: Cops in hot pursuit may still need a warrant
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects Americans from “unreasonable” searches and seizures by the government. That doesn’t always mean that police officers need a warrant before they can search you, but courts start with the base assumption that a...
2 states pass laws to limit police use of genealogy data
Did you know that taking a genetic genealogy test could result in your DNA being uploaded to a national, searchable database that police could use to accuse you of a crime? Worse, it’s not just you who is at risk. The entry of your DNA into such a database exposes...
Wisconsin Supreme Court: Can cops run your ID with no suspicion?
When should you be free to go after a traffic stop? The law only allows police officers to detain you if they have good reason to suspect you are involved in a specific crime. When they have no suspicion, they are supposed to let you go. That didn’t happen for Heather...