The Eleventh Circuit held that prison officials generally may not conduct strip searches of civilian visitors without reasonable suspicion that the visitor is concealing contraband. The court also held that qualified immunity did not protect the officers because the constitutional violation was sufficiently clear that a reasonable officer would have understood the conduct was unlawful.

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently released a decision in United States v. Radaker-Carter, a case that considers suggestiveness regarding reliability and admissibility of police identification procedures. This case highlights that evidence identifying someone as a suspect usually cannot be thrown out on the grounds that a witness saw a picture from a friend before a police lineup, unless the police themselves were responsible for making things unfair or leading the witness to pick a certain person.​​​​​​​

We head to the Fourth Circuit to examine the recent and consequential ruling in United States v. Johnson. This case serves as a critical exploration of Fourth Amendment boundaries, specifically regarding the distinction between protected curtilage and common property in multi-unit dwellings during warrantless K9 sniffs.​​​​​​​

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently released a ruling for Kampas v. City of St. Louis, Missouri. This case stems from a 2017 acquittal where a former St. Louis Police Department officer was acquitted of the first-degree murder of Anthony Lamar Smith, an African American man.​​​​​

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The Fourth Amendment draws its sharpest line at the front door of a home, but that line is often blurred as modern policing increasingly intersects with mental health crisis response and the need to render emergency aid. On January 14, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States addressed this intersection in Case v. Montana, 607 U. S. (2026), where the high Court considered ..."

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In a recent case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit released a decision in United States v. Watson, a case that highlights a parolee’s rights during law enforcement investigations and considers the boundaries of compelled statements under the Fifth Amendment.

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