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Various social apps are a form of communication but can they truly be used to communicate a threat? Like it or not, social media is a part of everyday life. Facebook has more than one billion active users, and Twitter counts 317 million people among its active users. Furthermore, a growing number of people use…
The number of exonerations in the United States rose again in 2016. Many of the wrongful convictions were in Texas and more than half of them were related to cases in which no crime was committed. The annual report from the National Registry of Exonerations found the number of exonerations rose to 166 last year,…
At the time of the men’s arrest, police interrogators threatened them with the death penalty. As reported in the Washington Post, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe recently pardoned four men who were wrongfully convicted of the 1997 sexual assault and murder of an 18-year-old woman. The police detective in charge of the original investigation is now…
When your blood pressure is spiking and your heart is beating out of your chest, it’s easy to forget your rights. No matter how many police or courtroom dramas you’ve watched, few things can truly prepare you for being taken into police custody or questioned by the cops. When your blood pressure is spiking and…
Extradition involves two countries cooperating to transfer an individual from one country to another to stand trial for a crime. Hollywood director Roman Polanski recently made headlines again when the Supreme Court of Poland rejected the Polish government’s request to extradite Polanski to the United States. The extradition battle has been ongoing since 1978, when…
The scope of hate crimes in Texas will expand if a bill to make all attacks on first responders hate crimes becomes law. The bill introduced in the Texas legislature would increase penalties for attacks against any first responder, including police, firefighters and EMTs, and make them hate crimes. Texas governor Greg Abbott spoke in…
Grand jury proceedings were originally designed to provide checks and balances against oppressive prosecution or potential witch hunts. If passed, a proposal that’s currently before Texas lawmakers would make it mandatory for prosecutors to share evidence that could help a suspect’s case with grand juries. According to a Texas Tribune report, two versions of the…
There is no question that flag-burning is controversial but should there be consequences when individuals choose to do so? Whatever your political leanings, you have probably heard numerous news reports about the aftermath of the presidential election, as well as the status of President-elect Trump’s transition into the White House. For Trump, who is a…
The rapid growth of social media and apps has to a raft of new cyberstalking laws at federal and state levels. Offensive tweets, Facebook posts, and texts have been linked to teen suicides and other consequences. However, in a recent case involving a Dallas-based reporter, a tweet is linked to direct harm. A man from…
Some of the prisoners in the study were in solitary confinement for three or more continuous years. A new study released from Yale Law School and the Association of State Correctional Administrators casts doubt on the efficacy of solitary confinement. As many criminal justice experts have claimed for a long time, the report finds that…