What is a Motion to Suppress Evidence? A motion to suppress evidence involves a defendant asking the court for certain evidence to be excluded from being presented at trial. The basis for the exclusion of the evidence is typically rooted in the United States Constitution, a state constitution, or a statute that allows for evidence […]Continue reading
Updated on April 27th, 2021 at 04:37 pmOn April 1, 2021, the D.C. Police Reform Commission released its report on the Metropolitan Police Force, which included more than 90 recommendations. Their report is the culmination of a seven-month-long intensive dive into the history of policing in the District of Columbia. Through extensive research, the report […]Continue reading
Updated on January 20th, 2021 at 04:36 pmOn January 6, 2021, the United States Congress convened in a joint session to certify that President-Elect Joseph Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election over incumbent President Donald Trump. Prior to the joint session beginning, President Trump told his supporters that the election was rigged against him, and […]Continue reading
When agencies such as the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, Public Defender Service, or even the Secret Service need crime scene evidence of guns, DNA or fingerprints processed, they turn to the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS). The DFS is classified as an independent agency, with a director appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser. The Case that […]Continue reading
On March 13, 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, an African American EMT, was shot and killed by police carrying out a no-knock warrant on her Louisville, Kentucky apartment. The killing sparked months of nationwide outrage, Black Lives Matter protests, and calls for police reform, which resulted in the passing of Breonna’s Law, effectively banning no-knock warrants in […]Continue reading
The United States Constitution delineates certain inalienable rights given to all citizens. Many of these rights specifically protect against government intrusion. In other words, they detail what the government cannot do to its citizens. One such amendment is the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by government actors, requiring there to be […]Continue reading
Protests have spread across the country in response to ongoing police brutality against the Black community, led by the Black Lives Matter movement. George Floyd, 46, was killed on May 26, just last week, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the hands of officer Derek Chauvin. The video footage of Mr. Floyd’s death displayed Chauvin kneeling on […]Continue reading
As of Monday, April 13, the District of Columbia Department of Corrections (“DOC”) confirmed that more than 40 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, and the D.C. jail had its first death from the virus. Diseases like the Coronavirus spread like wildfire in an environment like the jail where there are close living quarters, and […]Continue reading
Updated on July 5th, 2019 at 03:54 pmAttorney General Sally Yates was unceremoniously fired by the Trump administration after she ordered Department of Justice lawyers not to defend the executive order that banned citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from around the world from entering the United States. Along with banning citizens from the […]Continue reading
Updated on July 5th, 2019 at 03:54 pmOn January 21, 2017, DC’s national mall reverberated with chants of “this is what democracy looks like!” as over half a million women, men, and children took to the streets to participate in the Women’s March in the District of Columbia. The protesters marched down the national mall […]Continue reading
