A Las Vegas detective violated an inmate’s constitutional rights by “forcibly extracting” his DNA without a warrant while he was shackled and chained to a bench, the 9th Circuit ruled on a 2-1 vote. The extraction was requested by Deputy District Attorney Elissa Luzaich, who wanted to put Kenneth Friedman’s DNA sample into a cold-case…
Category: Govt
TJX Assurance: much ado about nothing?
As I read though the “Assurance” (of Compliance) that TJX signed with the attorneys general of 41 states, I found myself humming the song, “Is That All There Is?” When all is said and done, TJX seems to gotten off with a slap on the wrist, at worst. In December 2007, they settled claims brought…
Court upholds privacy of investigators and eyewitnesses
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals published its decision in Lahr v. NTSB this week. The case concerns privacy exemptions to FOIA requests, and arose over a dispute about the cause of the Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (“TWA Flight 800”) mid-air explosion off the coast of Long Island that killed all 230 people on…
Gang bill may breach Charter
The province’s latest anti-gang law could breach the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, says the vice-president of Alberta’s Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association. “It’s problematic in a number of respects,” city lawyer Deborah Hatch said after Bill 42 was introduced in the legislature last week. “It captures a whole lot of people here and a whole…