Outside the Beltway

Did Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony change anything?

The 6-3 ruling broke down on predictable lines.

A chance for a real investigation? Ruined legitimacy?

The Supreme Court has ruled to keep the long-standing “dual sovereigns” exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause in place.

Chelsea Manning is in jail for refusing to comply with a Grand Jury subpoena apparently related to an ongoing investigation of Julian Assange and Wikileaks.

In what amounts to a setback, the Supreme Court has lifted an injunction barring the Trump Administration’s ban on transgender service in the military to go forward pending further legal proceedings.

As expected, the Justice Department has issued a new rule banning bump stocks. However, it is likely to face legal challenges.

The Supreme Court appears reluctant to overturn a century of case law that established a significant exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause.

Later this week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could rewrite decades of law interpreting the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy rule.

A Mississippi law that seeks to ban most abortions after 15 weeks was struck down by a Federal District Court Judge.

Despite a court ruling that says otherwise, the Trump White House appears prepared to once again revoke the press pass of CNN reporter Jim Acosta.

A Federal Judge in Washington ruled that the White House acted improperly when it arbitrary revoked CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass.

Next term, the Justices will revisit the issue of whether someone can be tried in state and Federal Court for the same crime for the first time in nearly sixty years.

The President’s attorney continues to issue public statements that would seem injurious to his client.

Michael Cohen will invoke his rights under the Fifth Amendment in response to any questions asked in discovery in the civil suit filed against him by Stormy Daniels. That’s really the only option he has.

John Dowd allegedly raised the possibility while the Mueller investigation was closing in on the two presidential advisors.

Lt. General Michael Flynn is declining to comply with a Congressional subpoena regarding the Russia investigation, and invoking his rights under the Fifth Amendment.

An agreement purportedly made ten years ago by a former prosecutor could mean the end of the criminal charges against Bill Cosby.

The Supreme Court has struck down a program that forced farmers to turn over a portion of their crop to the government without compensation.

The Justice Department will not pursue contempt charges against Lois Lerner because it has determined that she did not waive her rights under the Fifth Amendment.

The Fourth and Fifth Amendments do not prevent the police from compelling you to unlock your phone if you used fingerprint scan technology to lock it, Virginia Judge has ruled.

New York State’s gun law takes rights away from nearly 35,000 people without any due process whatsoever.

Another area where the law has yet to catch up to technology.

The right to fly can’t be denied on mere whim.

The Justice Department thinks police should be able to search the smart phones of anyone arrested for anything.

Despite the fact that she asserted her right against self-incrimination, a House Committee has voted to hold Lois Lerner in contempt for refusing to testify.

The idea that Amanda Knox was subjected to what we consider “double jeopardy” doesn’t seem to withstand scrutiny.

Apple’s new fingerprint sensor. A cop’s best friend?

Don’t blame “secret courts” for the government’s expanded spying on American citizens and allies.

Not surprisingly, Lois Lerner’s attorney is saying his client will only testify under a grant of immunity.

Lois Lerner is likely headed back to Congress over the largely phony charge that she waived her Fifth Amendment rights.

The Court may have “punted” the Proposition 8 ruling, but it is likely to have a wide-ranging impact both in California and nationwide.

Jay Stanley and Ben Wizner, privacy experts at the ACLU, argue that metadata is more sensitive than we think.

New developments in a still very new area of the law.

It’s a mistake to think of the Bill of Rights as only protecting people who are “innocent” or “guilty.” It exists to protect all of us.

Inside the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration investigation into the IRS scandal.

Darrell Issa’s Committee seems headed for a battle over the Fifth Amendment.

A top IRS official will reportedly invoke her 5th Amendment rights rather than testify before Congress tomorrow.

All of us being watched, all the time, and that data being stored forever.

For some reason, George Zimmerman sat down for an hour-long interview last night.

An unsurprising decision on the Defense of Marriage.

The Republican National Committee throws the Fifth Amendment under the bus.

Attorney General Eric Holder offered a somewhat alarming defense of the Administration’s policy on targeted killings.

A Federal Judge deals with the clash between individual rights, law enforcement, and technology.

Can the government force a criminal defendant to reveal a computer password? A Federal case in Denver is dealing with that question right now.