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Georgia Supreme Court Rules Flipping the Bird Is Not Disorderly Conduct

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled on October 2, 2017 that a raised middle finger, without more, amounts to constitutionally protected speech that cannot be grounds for a finding of criminal disorderly conduct. David Freeman attended a church service at the Flowery Branch campus of the 12 Stones Church on August 3, 2014. During the service,

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Mass. Supreme Court: Field Sobriety Tests Inadmissible Re: Marijuana

The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that field sobriety tests (“FSTs”) may not be used as definitive evidence of impairment in cases involving allegations of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana. The Court also ruled that FSTs are admissible as contemporaneous observations of the police officer, as a lay witness, who conducted

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Fourth Circuit Holds Supervised Release Revocation Sentence Unreasonable

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a supervised release revocation sentence was plainly unreasonable. The Court concluded that it was not reasonable for a district court to fail to address nonfrivolous arguments advanced by a defendant arguing for a particular revocation sentence. The Court also held that a district court

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New Study: “Broken Windows” Policing May Not Be as Effective as Thought

A study published in the scholarly journal Nature Human Behavior has established a connection between proactive policing and crime. However, it is not the connection that proponents of proactive policing may have expected. The authors of the study found that temporary cessation of proactive policing actually led to a decline in major crimes reported. According

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$5 Million Award in New York Wrongful Conviction Case

Daniel Gristwood was a 29-year-old printer when he was arrested for the attempted murder of his wife on January 12, 1996. He initially confessed to the crime and was convicted in New York state court based on that confession. Gristwood was sentenced to 12.5 years to 25 years in prison. During his prison term, Gristwood

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Massachusetts Probation Officials: First Circuit Reverses Convictions

On December 19, 2016, the First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the convictions of several former public officials in Massachusetts for their roles in a hiring scheme at the Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP). The defendants, Elizabeth V. Tavares, John J. O’Brien, and William H. Burke III, were high-ranking officials in the OCP.

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