Police who receive a person’s DNA sample voluntarily during a criminal investigation may use that sample to investigate other crimes — unless the person has expressly told them not to, a sharply divided Maryland high court ruled Tuesday.

Tagged with: dna fourth amendment

Police officers may open the flip phone of a person they just arrested and examine its screen saver but need a warrant to search the text messages and other information contained within the device in the absence of a public-safety emergency, Maryland’s top court ruled Monday in a trio of decisions.

Tagged with: Cell phones fourth amendment warrantless search

A federal judge has thrown out a class-action lawsuit alleging "overdetention" at Baltimore's Central Booking, a decision that could help end nearly 10 years of litigation over the practices at the city facility.

Tagged with: Baltimore crime fourth amendment police

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of a convicted rapist who had urged the justices to overturn his conviction and rule the the Maryland State Police violated his constitutional rights by surreptitiously checking the DNA in the perspiration he left on a chair after being questioned voluntarily at an MSP barracks.

Tagged with: dna fourth amendment Supreme Court

Lifting a book ban heads legal-news roundup that includes comparison of Eric Holder and RFK, drone use by police and a tale of strip searches in two cities.

Tagged with: Attorney General chicago dallas drones eric holder first amendment fourth amendment milwaukee strip search

Supreme Court may get case asking if people who voluntarily submit to police questioning surrender their claim to the sweat they leave behind on a chair.

Tagged with: dna fourth amendment Supreme Court

A recent Supreme Court case that said police can’t search a cell-phone’s contents without a warrant does not apply to searches at the U.S. borders, a federal judge in Greenbelt ruled Monday.

Tagged with: fourth amendment smartphones

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that police did not violate the Fourth Amendment by shooting more than a dozen rounds into the car of a fleeing unarmed suspect is making defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates uneasy.

Tagged with: fourth amendment

Mobile-phone searches, junior-league politicians, greedy lawyers round out this week's Law Blog Roundup

Tagged with: BP fourth amendment justices lawyers mobile phones Supreme Court u.s. constitution

Howard County police violated a motorist’s constitutional rights by secretly placing a GPS device on his car and tracking the vehicle’s movements for 11 days without a warrant, a defense attorney told Maryland’s top court Friday.

Tagged with: breaking news crime fourth amendment GPS Howard County Law legal news maryland maryland court of appeals Office of the Maryland Attorney General tracking