All articles from Warren Richey

Supreme Court rules that dog's sniff was up to snuff in roadside search

Supreme Court rules that a signal from a properly trained drug-detecting dog is enough to establish probable cause for a warrantless search of a vehicle during a roadside stop.
Man in 'sextortion' case might have coerced 350 women

Authorities call 'sextortion' a variant of 'sexting' in which someone assumes a false Internet identity and coerces others into providing sexually explicit content. Two cases point to the trend.
Gulf oil spill: BP's record $4 billion criminal plea deal gets judge's OK

Under the plea agreement between BP and the US, the oil giant admits to 11 counts of felony manslaughter for the alleged negligence of its officials in 2010 Gulf oil spill.
Mumbai sentencing: American gets 35 years, judge calls him 'terrorist'

David Coleman Headley, a US citizen of Pakistani heritage, conducted surveillance for the Mumbai attackers. In light of his cooperation with investigators, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
'Piracy' at sea: Has definition changed? Supreme Court declines to enter fray.

The Supreme Court rejected the appeals of two groups of captured Somalis. Federal prosecutors had argued that the definition of piracy has broadened since the early 1800s.
Did judge insert his religious views into case? Supreme Court refuses appeal.

A North Carolina judge quoted Scripture that refers to the Lord’s 'vengeance' in sentencing three men to de facto life prison terms for a robbery that netted less than $3,000. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case Tuesday.
Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Florida property rights case

At issue in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District: Did Florida regulators go too far when telling a landowner what he needed to do to get a development permit?
At Supreme Court, no reprieve for GOP in voting rights consent decree

US Supreme Court on Monday turned aside a petition from the Republican National Committee to lift a 30-year-old consent decree. The decree requires the RNC to refrain from tactics that could suppress voting rights.
Can police use your silence against you? Supreme Court to decide.

The Supreme Court is reviewing a case in which a Texas man's silence while voluntarily answering police questions was presented as evidence at trial. His murder conviction was upheld on appeal.
Drunk driving: Supreme Court considers whether forced blood tests are OK

The case, which the Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday, pits the requirements of the Fourth Amendment against the need for effective enforcement of drunk-driving laws nationwide.
WikiLeaks: Bradley Manning was treated improperly in lockup, judge rules

But the military court declined to throw out the case against former Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who faces trial for allegedly facilitating the largest leak of classified documents in US history.
Drunk driving: Can blood-alcohol test be forced? Case reaches Supreme Court.

The justices will hear arguments Wednesday in the case of a drunk driver forced to submit to a blood test. State supreme courts are divided on whether that violates the Fourth Amendment.
CIA rendition case: European court holds Macedonia partly responsible

The decision is important because it suggests that US allies that helped the CIA undertake its secret detention and interrogation program may face liability for their role supporting such operations.
9/11 trial: Any mention of torture is classified, military judge rules

The military judge in the 9/11 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others granted a government request to make all mention of alleged torture in the court classified. The defense called the ruling 'shameful.'
Alleging US torture, terror convict Padilla appeals to Americas’ rights group

Jose Padilla's mother is alleging to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that her son, currently in solitary confinement in a Colorado prison, was tortured during his 4 years in a naval brig.
How Ernest Hemingway's cats became a federal case (+video)

The descendants of Ernest Hemingway's cats – dozens of them – freely roam the writer's former home, now a museum. In a controversial court case, a judge says the felines must be regulated under federal law.
Supreme Court: Both sides in gay marriage debate voice optimism

The Supreme Court's decision to take up appeals over DOMA and California's Prop. 8 ban on gay marriage elicited positive reactions from advocates on both sides of the contentious issue.
Supreme Court takes up gay marriage: what the justices have to decide

The main question before the Supreme Court is not whether the Constitution protects gay marriage, but whether Prop. 8 and DOMA discriminate in violation of the 14th Amendment.
Gay marriage reaches Supreme Court: Justices to review Prop 8., DOMA

The two cases being taken up by the Supreme Court involve a challenge to California’s Prop. 8 ban on gay marriage and a suit from New York City testing the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Former sailor arrested after allegedly attempting to pass secrets to Russia

If convicted, Robert Patrick Hoffman II, who retired from the US Navy last year, faces up to life in prison. According to the indictment, the FBI was conducting an undercover operation.