©2016 Jack Ryan, Attorney, Co-Director Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) The Constitution as a general matter only applies to government actors due to the fact that its creation by the founding fathers was to restrict the power of government. [...]

©2016 Jack Ryan, Attorney, Co-Director Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute (www.llrmi.com) In Milan v. City of Evansville[1] the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana reviewed a SWAT entry that involved the use of two flash bangs and [...]

United States Supreme Court Denies Appeal in Fourth Circuit PINEHURST, NC, ET AL. V. ESTATE OF RONALD H. ARMSTRONG (Order 15-1380) October 3, 2016 The United States Supreme Court denied issuance of a Writ of Certiorari in the Armstrong v. [...]

A number of lawsuits leading to jury findings as well as settlements with respect to the use of restraint chairs in jails have occurred over the last 15 years. Many of these cases involve arguments that the chairs were used [...]

Evidence Seized During Unconstitutional Investigatory Stop May Not Be Excluded Where During Stop the Officer Learned of Arrest Warrant and Search was Conducted Incident to Arrest based on Warrant Attenuation Doctrine-“The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree has Been Sanitized” All [...]

Child’s Statements to Teachers May Sometimes be Used Against Abuser Even Though Child is Unavailable for Cross-Examination Over the last decade, the United States Supreme Court has considered a number of cases that deal with statements made by victims/witnesses who [...]

In consolidated cases, one from Minnesota and two from North Dakota, the United States Supreme Court held that a blood test is more intrusive than a breath test and therefore a warrantless blood test would violate the Fourth Amendment under [...]

The United States Court of Appeals reviewed a lawsuit against Albuquerque officers who used a TASER™, largely in the pure “drive-stun” mode in their attempt to subdue a subject on a well-being check.  The court found against the officers and [...]

Law Enforcement should get advice from local prosecutor before considering criminally charging someone with possession of an electronic control weapon. (NOTE: The Detailed Summary in this article comes from the detailed Concurrence Opinion of Justice Alito and joined by Justice [...]

In Johnson v. Wickersham, [i] the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan considered a claim brought by inmates of the Macomb County Jail that challenged the jail’s mail policy.  The jail, which changed its policies going from a [...]