Criminal Law

Investigation Finds Reports Analyzing the Police Response to a Mass Shooting Too Often Incomplete, Unreleased

While active shooter training varies widely across the country and that law enforcement officers make similar mistakes in mass shooting after mass shooting, those failures are not always clearly identified in reports dissecting the incidents, adding to the difficulty of learning from past missteps, Lexi Churchill and Lomi Kriel report for ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and FRONTLINE.

Despite the U.S. facing more than 120 mass shootings in the past two-and-a-half decades, an investigation by the three publications found that … Read the rest

Civil Law

Federal court finds the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional: Is compliance still required?

Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) as an anti-money-laundering initiative in 2021. Absent an applicable exemption,[1] the CTA requires all entities formed or registered to do business in the US (reporting companies) to report their beneficial ownership[2] to the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

In National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-01448 (N.D. Ala.), the National Small Business Association (NSBA) and one of its members brought a suit in the US District Court of the Northern … Read the rest

Criminal Law

Study Finds ‘Hot-Spot Policing’ More Effective When Officers Show Respect

Procedural justice principles are compatible with effective crimefighting, according to a study by the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University.

Researchers found that crime significantly declined in high-risk neighborhoods where police were trained to use principles that focus on treating people fairly and with respect.

“Police can simultaneously focus on reform and crime reduction,” they concluded.

The conclusion, which many reform advocates might have considered self-evident a few years ago, is arguably controversial in some quarters now, … Read the rest

Civil Law

FDA finds new Cyclospora outbreak; continues investigations on others

The FDA is investigating a new outbreak of dozens of infections caused by the Cyclospora parasite.

Little information has been released, but the Food and Drug Administration is reporting that 51 people have been confirmed infected. The agency has not released any specific information about the patients such as their ages or where they live.

The FDA’s outbreak information indicated that a traceback investigation has begun, but it has not reported what food or foods are being traced. The agency … Read the rest