The Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause provides that no State shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law.” A caveat to this right is that incarcerated individuals are not guaranteed its full scope. Because of their limited liberty rights, solitary confinement has been successfully implemented in a number of both state and federal prisons throughout the United States. In the summer of 2021, more than 6,000 inmates had been in solitary confinement for over a year. As of this week, over 10,000 inmates in federal prison alone are being held in solitary confinement.

The current circuit court split lies in whether there should be a minimum length for the duration of confinement to be considered an atypical hardship giving rise to a liberty interest.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals’ rights to free speech and freedom of religion. As such, the U.S. government is generally not permitted to punish individuals for exercising First Amendment free speech. This includes arrests for criminal activity made by a police officer to retaliate against an individual for their protected speech. Under 42 USC §1983, an individual can bring a civil suit for wrongful arrest, including retaliatory arrest, in violation of their First Amendment rights if there is a “but-for” causal connection between the officer’s retaliatory animus and the individual's speech. Kennedy v. City of Villa Hills, 635 F.3d. 210, 217 (6th Cir. 2011).

How can courts act in the pursuit of justice when a robber is also a victim?  Marjory Dingwall confessed to three counts of robbery and three counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, but she claimed she committed them under duress, fearing the violence she had come to expect from her abusive boyfriend.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. However, a litigant must have the standing to challenge a governmental action under the Fourth Amendment. To establish Fourth Amendment standing, a party must show that their reasonable expectations of privacy have been infringed upon. In the context of mail, standing can present a unique obstacle for a claimant. The Circuit Courts have disagreed about what reasonable privacy expectations an individual who uses a nickname or alias has in the mail they intend to send or receive.

In 2015, the Supreme Court reviewed the case of Michael Kingsley, a pretrial detainee who suffered a brutal assault at the hands of his jailers and sued them for using excessive force in violation of his rights. The Court held in Kingsley v. Hendrickson that claims of excessive force against a pretrial detainee must be evaluated against an objective standard. This means that when a court is determining whether excessive force is used, it must do so from the point of view of the reasonable officer who was present at the time (as opposed to the perspective of the specific officer involved). The Court explained that “the Due Process Clause protects pretrial detainees from excessive force that amounts to punishment,” which can occur when the force at issue is not “reasonably related to the legitimate purpose of holding detainees for trial.”

The 6th Circuit granted habeas relief on the grounds that the Michigan State Court did not show that the shackling did not have a substantial and injurious effect on the jury’s verdict. In doing so, they applied the Brecht test, but not the AEDPA examination of whether the state court’s decision was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts.

What is the appropriate standard of review for a federal court deciding whether to grant habeas relief?

When it comes to civilians recording police actions, the First Amendment and doctrine of qualified immunity often come into conflict with each other.

Is there a First Amendment right to record the police in public, and does this right outweigh the doctrine of qualified immunity?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was passed in 1991 to regulate the emerging practice of telemarketing, in which an automatic dialing system or prerecorded voice makes automatic calls to consumers to market products or services. The TCPA also regulates other forms of electronic communication, such as through text messaging and faxing.

Does a defendant have Article III standing under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act even if the alleged injury is a single text message?

In formulating the prison mailbox rule, the Houston Court specified the struggles of “pro se prisoner[s]” in filing paperwork. So, does this rule, where a prisoner’s notice of appeal is filed when he hands it to prison officials to be mailed, apply to all prisoners, including those represented by counsel (broad interpretation), or only to pro se prisoners (narrow interpretation)?

Under a wireless services contract that binds consumers to arbitrate any disputes with the providing company and its affiliates, may a satellite television company that became an affiliate of a wireless services provider several years after the signing of such contract compel arbitration when a consumer brings a suit under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act?