US

AP wins Pulitzer for stories on NYPD spying

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism Monday for revealing the New York Police Department's widespread spying on Muslims, while The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., and a 24-year-old reporter captured the award for local reporting for breaking the Penn State scandal that ultimately brought down Joe Paterno....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

2 toy execs implicated in money laundering

LOS ANGELES — Five people were arrested Monday in connection with a money laundering scheme that allegedly funneled millions of dollars in Colombian and Mexican drug money through an American toy company, federal officials said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the two owners of Industry, Calif.-based Woody Toys and ...

Nation Briefs: Trial drawing to close for fired NASA worker

LOS ANGELES — The trial is winding down for a former NASA-affiliated computer specialist who says he was fired because of his belief in intelligent design.

Closing arguments began Monday in David Coppedge's wrongful-termination case against NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Mr. Coppedge worked as ...

Suspect in Tulsa shooting spree says in video he has no ill-will toward blacks

TULSA, Okla. — One of two Oklahoma men accused of going on a racially motivated shooting spree in a predominantly black section of Tulsa this month says he has no ill-will toward black people and counts several of them among his friends.

"I always got along with everybody. It didn't ...

U.S.: Other targets eyed in NYC plot

NEW YORK — Three former high school classmates, after getting terror training at an al Qaeda outpost, discussed bombing New York movie theaters, Grand Central Terminal, Times Square and the New York Stock Exchange before targeting the city's subways, a prosecutor said Monday at the trial for one of them.

...

Ridership way up as transit systems degenerate

Driven by high gas prices and an uncertain economy, Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before. But the aging transit systems they're riding face an $80 billion maintenance backlog that jeopardizes service just when it's most in demand.

The number of ...

Ex-NASA worker: Firing was over intelligent design

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A former computer specialist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was laid off because he was combative and didn't keep his skills sharp - not because he advocated for his belief in intelligent design while at work, an attorney said Monday in a case that plays on the tensions over the controversial origins-of-life concept....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

GSA executive asserts right to remain silent

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The General Services Administration investigator who revealed a wild agency spending spree said Monday he's investigating possible bribery and kickbacks, and has already recommended criminal charges to the Justice Department. The key figure in the scandal invoked his right to remain silent at the House hearing....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

CA3: Porn industry stated claim for Fourth Amendment violation for recordkeeping requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 2257

FourthAmendment.com - News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37

The Free Speech Coalition’s case against the Attorney General for searches under pornography manufacturer’s recordkeeping requirements under 28 U.S.C. § 2257 stated a First and Fourth Amendment claim because of unannounced FBI visits to search records. On remand, the district court should consider the trespass implications ofJones. Free Speech Coalition Inc. v. Attorney General of the United States, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 7543 (3d Cir. April 16, 2012):

There are two ways in which the government’s conduct may constitute a “search” implicating the Fourth Amendment. First, a Fourth Amendment search occurs when “the person invoking its protection can claim a justifiable, a reasonable, or a legitimate expectation of privacy that has been invaded by government action.” Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 740 (1979) (citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 32-33 (2001) (“[A] Fourth Amendment search occurs when the government violates a subjective expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable.”); Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 353 (1967) (“The Government’s activities in electronically listening to and recording the petitioner’s words violated the privacy upon which he justifiably relied ... and thus constituted a ‘search and seizure’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.”). Determining whether one’s expectation of privacy is justifiable involves two separate inquiries: (1) whether the individual demonstrated an actual or subjective expectation of privacy in the subject of the search or seizure; and (2) whether this expectation of privacy is objectively justifiable under the circumstances. Smith, 442 U.S. at 740 (quotation marks omitted); Katz, 389 U.S. at 361 (Harlan, J., concurring); United States v. Ferri, 778 F.2d 985, 994 (3d Cir. 1985).

Second, as the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jones makes clear, a Fourth Amendment search also occurs where the government unlawfully, physically occupies private property for the purpose of obtaining information. See 132 S. Ct. at 949-52 (stating that the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test set forth in Katz was “added to, not substituted for, the common-law trespassory test”) (emphasis in original). Under this analysis, we must determine whether the government committed common-law trespass when obtaining the information. See Jones, 132 S. Ct. at 949-52; see also Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143 (1978) (explaining the common-law-trespass test employed prior to Katz). If such a trespass occurs, then the government’s actions constitute a search implicating the Fourth Amendment. See Jones, 132 S. Ct. at 949-52.

Here, the District Court erred in dismissing Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment claim, as sought to be amended. Courts generally must consider the concrete factual context when determining the constitutional validity of a warrantless search. See Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 59 (1968) (declining to hold whether a particular statute was facially invalid under the Fourth Amendment because the “constitutional validity of a warrantless search is pre-eminently the sort of question which can only be decided in the concrete factual context of the individual case”); United States ex rel. McArthur v. Rundle, 402 F.2d 701, 704-05 (3d Cir. 1968) (stating that in the case of warrantless searches, courts are required to consider the concrete factual context); see also United States v. $291,828.00 in United States Currency, 536 F.3d 1234, 1238 (11th Cir. 2008). Plaintiffs’ complaint, as amended, would allege that government officials searched and/or seized without a warrant—and in violation of the Fourth Amendment—the premises and effects of certain FSC members and others. The record, however, is not clear as to: which specific members of FSC were searched; when and where the searches of the FSC members and others occurred (i.e., offices or homes); and the conduct of the government during the search (e.g., what specific information the government reviewed and whether the government exceeded its authority under the applicable regulations).

This factual context is necessary for determining whether the government’s conduct was a “search” under the Fourth Amendment pursuant to either the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test set forth in Katz or the common-law-trespass test described in Jones. ...

Defendant asks for new judge in US shooting

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
SANFORD, Florida (AP) -- The neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing an unarmed black teenager in Florida asked a judge in the case to step down Monday after she revealed a potential conflict of interest....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Defendant asks for new judge in US shooting

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
SANFORD, Florida (AP) -- The neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing an unarmed black teenager in Florida asked a judge in the case to step down Monday after she revealed a potential conflict of interest....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Zimmerman asks for new judge; cites case conflict

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- George Zimmerman is asking a judge in the Trayvon Martin shooting case to step down after she revealed a potential conflict of interest....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

AP wins Pulitzer for stories on NYPD spying

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting Monday for documenting the New York Police Department's widespread spying on Muslims, while The Philadelphia Inquirer overcame extreme financial turmoil at the newspaper to win in the public service category for its examination of violence in the city's schools....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Aging transit systems grapple with repair backlog

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Driven by high gas prices and an uncertain economy, Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before. But the aging transit systems they're riding face an $80 billion maintenance backlog that jeopardizes service just when it's most in demand....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Aging transit systems grapple with repair backlog

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Driven by high gas prices and an uncertain economy, Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before. But the aging transit systems they're riding face an $80 billion maintenance backlog that jeopardizes service just when it's most in demand....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Aging transit systems grapple with repair backlog

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Driven by high gas prices and an uncertain economy, Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before. But the aging transit systems they're riding face an $80 billion maintenance backlog that jeopardizes service just when it's most in demand....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Aging transit systems grapple with repair backlog

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Driven by high gas prices and an uncertain economy, Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before. But the aging transit systems they're riding face an $80 billion maintenance backlog that jeopardizes service just when it's most in demand....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Boy to school officials: Mom, sister dead at home

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A 9-year-old boy arrived at school Monday with a grisly story: His mother and sister were dead at their home four blocks away....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

Beyond drowsy, too little sleep ups diabetes risk

AP - U.S. News - Sun, 2025-05-25 04:37
WASHINGTON (AP) -- More people pull the night shift. Teens text past midnight and stumble to class at dawn. Travelers pack red-eye flights....
Categories: Associated Press, News, US

AP wins Pulitzer for stories on NYPD spying

NEW YORK — The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting Monday for documenting the New York Police Department's widespread spying on Muslims, while The Philadelphia Inquirer was honored in the public service category for its examination of violence in the city's schools.

The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. ...

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