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ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Neighborhood watch groups were designed to be the eyes and ears of police — passively observing what they see and reporting back to law enforcement — not to enforce the law themselves.

Most neighborhood watches follow the rules, and confrontations are rare. But after the killing of ...

Officers’ determination that they could hold defendant for 48 hours on an illegal arrest was the cause of defendant’s statement, and it should have been suppressed. State v. Bishop, 2012 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 171 (March 14, 2012).*

Talking to defendant sitting in a parked car was a “consensual encounter” under Ohio case law, and the officer’s plain view of two roaches in the ashtray was valid. State v. Calhoun, 2012 Ohio 1128, 2012 Ohio App. LEXIS 994 (11th Dist. March 19, 2012).*

Defendant's 2255 was couched in terms of a Fourth Amendment violation and not a Sixth Amendment violation, so it should have been raised in the direct appeal. Ford v. United States, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38296 (E.D. Mo. March 21, 2012).*

MIAMI — Florida is among 21 states with a "Stand Your Ground Law," which gives people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight. The self-defense law helps explain why a neighborhood watch captain has not been arrested in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager.

Geekosystem: FBI Can’t Crack Pimp’s Phone’s Pattern Lock, Serves Google With Warrant by James Plafke:

The FBI secured a pimp’s Samsung Android phone as part of a case following a former pimp released on parole who seemed to be partaking in pimping activities once again, specifically through the use of his Android phone. The pimp previously signed a Fourth Amendment search rights waiver, which allowed the FBI to search his home and property at any time without a court order. When he turned over his phone, he didn’t unlock the device, even though his parole conditions prevented him from hiding or locking digital files, but claimed the phone belonged to his sister. Amusingly, the FBI couldn’t crack the phone’s unlock pattern, and then served a warrant to Google, Android’s developer, to help them unlock the phone.

The FBI obtained a warrant to search the phone last month, but weren’t able to crack it due to the phone’s swipe password lock, which can actually be easily defeated — either by simply looking at the smudges on the phone’s screen, or because you’re the FBI and should have access to a variety cracking tools and skilled employees who know how to use them. The FBI attempted the password too many times, which locked the phone, which in turn could only be unlocked using the phone owner’s Google account credentials. As you could imagine, the pimp refused to cooperate, so the FBI served Google with a warrant in order to get the Android developers to help out.

This is the logical step. See ZDnet.com: "Woman who pleaded Fifth in password case now citing Fourth". If the owner of the phone can plead the Fifth, then the government has to attempt to use a search warrant to get into the phone.

NPR: FBI Still Struggling With Supreme Court's GPS Ruling by Carrie Johnson:

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court said police had overstepped their legal authority by planting a GPS tracker on the car of a suspected drug dealer without getting a search warrant. It seemed like another instance in a long line of cases that test the balance between personal privacy and the needs of law enforcement.

But the decision in U.S. v. Jones set off alarm bells inside the FBI, where officials are trying to figure out whether they need to change the way they do business.

Before the Supreme Court ruling in late January, the FBI had about 3,000 GPS tracking devices in the field.

See also BLT: Prosecutors Gear Up For GPS Drug Case, Sans Tracking Data:

With the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark warrantless surveillance case back in Washington federal district court, prosecutors said they are gearing up for a legal fight over the availability of certain pieces of evidence.

The high court in January ruled for a Washington nightclub owner named Antoine Jones. Prosecutors have accused him of running a cocaine trafficking ring in the Washington metropolitan area.

America's marriage culture may be changing, but two statistics look about the same as they did 30 years ago:

• By the time women reach age 40, about eight in 10 will have married for the first time, just as they did in the 1980s.

• And 20 years later, ...

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Sanford city commissioners have voted "no confidence" in their police chief over the handling of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a neighborhood watch captain.

The commission voted 3-2 Wednesday night against Chief Bill Lee Jr.

Commissioner Mark McCarty said Lee, who was ...

SANFORD, Fla. — George Zimmerman once took criminal justice classes at the community college and was practically a one-man neighborhood watch in his gated part of town, calling police close to 50 times over the past eight years to report such things as slow-driving vehicles, strangers loitering in the neighborhood ...

On one side of the fence are women in habits and wimples who have taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

On the other side of that fence, if a developer gets his way, will be women in G-strings in the business of nudity, dollars and prurience.

The scene for ...

CLEVELAND — The accused ringleader in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio cannot rely on taxpayers to pay his legal bills, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster ruled that Samuel Mullet Sr., 66, who has a nearly 800-acre farm near Steubenville with oil and ...

BLT: D.C. Judge Weighs Constitutional Challenge to 'Post and Forfeit' by Zoe Tillman:

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson heard arguments today about whether a legal challenge to a controversial post-arrest procedure in the District of Columbia known as "post and forfeit" should survive a motion to dismiss.

Under "post and forfeit," a person arrested for certain low-level offenses in D.C. can post collateral and then agree to forfeit it in exchange for having the case essentially dropped. The Metropolitan Police Department has come under scrutiny in the past amid concerns that officers used "post and forfeit" to quickly close and cover up wrongful arrests.

Indiana Law Blog: Ind. Law -- Gov. signs SEA 1, the right to defend against unlawful entry

A news release just received:

Tuesday evening, Governor Daniels signed SEA 1, titled “Right to defend against unlawful entry.” He issued the following statement about his decision to sign the bill:

“After close inspection, I have decided to sign Senate Enrolled Act 1. Contrary to some impressions, the bill strengthens the protection of Indiana law enforcement officers by narrowing the situations in which someone would be justified in using force against them. Senate Enrolled Act 1 puts into place a two-part test before a person can use deadly force against a law enforcement officer: First, it clarifies and restates the current requirement that a person reasonably believe the law enforcement officer is acting unlawfully. Second, it adds that the force must be reasonably necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the citizen. This second requirement is not part of the current law.

“Moreover, unless a person is convinced an officer is acting unlawfully, he cannot use any force of any kind. In the real world, there will almost never be a situation in which these extremely narrow conditions are met. ..."

The Act is to counter the Indiana Supreme Court's Barnes case, posted here.

CLINTONVILLE, Wis. — Sleepless families in a small Wisconsin town longed for quiet Wednesday after mysterious booming noises over the past few nights roused them from bed and sent residents into the street sometimes still in pajamas.

The strange disturbance sounds like distant thunder, fireworks or someone slamming a heavy ...