Reforming Police
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Arizona
Oct 2023

Reforming Police
Racial Justice
Fund for Empowerment v. Phoenix, City of
Fund for Empowerment is a challenge to the City of Phoenixs practice of conducting sweeps of encampments without notice, issuing citations to unsheltered people for camping and sleeping on public property when they have no place else to go, and confiscating and destroying their property without notice or process.
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34 Reforming Police Cases

California
Jun 2025
Reforming Police
Racial Justice
Coalition on Homelessness v. City and County of San Francisco
Coalition on Homelessness is a challenge to the City and County of San Franciscos efforts to criminalize homelessness through an array of unconstitutional practices, including confiscating and destroying the personal property of unhoused people without adequate notice or due process, and citing and arresting unhoused people for sleeping in public.
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California
Jun 2025

Reforming Police
Racial Justice
Coalition on Homelessness v. City and County of San Francisco
Coalition on Homelessness is a challenge to the City and County of San Franciscos efforts to criminalize homelessness through an array of unconstitutional practices, including confiscating and destroying the personal property of unhoused people without adequate notice or due process, and citing and arresting unhoused people for sleeping in public.

Tennessee
May 2025
Reforming Police
Prisoners' Rights
State v. Bishop
This case presents two questions: first, whether, under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution, Union City Police Department officers possessed probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the defendants vehicle based exclusively on the alleged odor of cannabis, and second, whether the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to overturn the defendants conviction. The 勛圖眻畦s Criminal Reform Legal Project and State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the 勛圖眻畦 of Tennessee filed an amicus brief arguing first, that after Tennessees legalization of hemp in 2019, an officers alleged detection of the odor of cannabis is insufficient to establish probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle in Tennessee, and second, that the court of appeals improperly held that it lacked jurisdiction to overturn the defendants conviction.
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Tennessee
May 2025

Reforming Police
Prisoners' Rights
State v. Bishop
This case presents two questions: first, whether, under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution, Union City Police Department officers possessed probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the defendants vehicle based exclusively on the alleged odor of cannabis, and second, whether the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to overturn the defendants conviction. The 勛圖眻畦s Criminal Reform Legal Project and State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the 勛圖眻畦 of Tennessee filed an amicus brief arguing first, that after Tennessees legalization of hemp in 2019, an officers alleged detection of the odor of cannabis is insufficient to establish probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle in Tennessee, and second, that the court of appeals improperly held that it lacked jurisdiction to overturn the defendants conviction.

Hawaii Supreme Court
Apr 2025
Reforming Police
State of Hawai妡i v. Zuffante
In 1994, the Supreme Court of Hawai妡i held in State v. Kekona that the due process clause of the Hawaii Constitution does not require custodial interrogations to be recorded. More than 30 years later, with advances in technology that have made recording far easier, this case asks whether this decision should be reconsidered. The 勛圖眻畦s State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the 勛圖眻畦 of Hawaii filed an amicus brief arguing that the Supreme Court of Hawai妡i should now hold that custodial interrogations must be recorded in order to be admissible in court, either as a matter of due process or as an exercise of the Courts supervisory authority over lower courts.
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Hawaii Supreme Court
Apr 2025

Reforming Police
State of Hawai妡i v. Zuffante
In 1994, the Supreme Court of Hawai妡i held in State v. Kekona that the due process clause of the Hawaii Constitution does not require custodial interrogations to be recorded. More than 30 years later, with advances in technology that have made recording far easier, this case asks whether this decision should be reconsidered. The 勛圖眻畦s State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the 勛圖眻畦 of Hawaii filed an amicus brief arguing that the Supreme Court of Hawai妡i should now hold that custodial interrogations must be recorded in order to be admissible in court, either as a matter of due process or as an exercise of the Courts supervisory authority over lower courts.

Maryland Supreme Court
Dec 2024
Reforming Police
Roland Branch v. State of Maryland
This petition to the Supreme Court of Maryland asked the court to reconsider its adherence to Whren v. U.S., 517 U.S. 806 (1996), which declared that a traffic stop undertaken for pretextual reasons does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so long as the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred. The 勛圖眻畦, alongside the 勛圖眻畦 of Maryland, filed an amicus brief in support of the defendants petition, in which the 勛圖眻畦 argued that the court should take up the question of whether pretextual stops violate the Maryland Constitution. In September 2024, the Court denied the petition.
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Maryland Supreme Court
Dec 2024

Reforming Police
Roland Branch v. State of Maryland
This petition to the Supreme Court of Maryland asked the court to reconsider its adherence to Whren v. U.S., 517 U.S. 806 (1996), which declared that a traffic stop undertaken for pretextual reasons does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so long as the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred. The 勛圖眻畦, alongside the 勛圖眻畦 of Maryland, filed an amicus brief in support of the defendants petition, in which the 勛圖眻畦 argued that the court should take up the question of whether pretextual stops violate the Maryland Constitution. In September 2024, the Court denied the petition.

North Carolina Supreme Court
Dec 2024
Reforming Police
State v. Wright
This case in the North Carolina Supreme Court involves the question of whether the police violated the U.S. Constitution when they searched the defendant, Mr. Wrights, backpack even after he repeatedly said no to the search requests. The 勛圖眻畦 alongside the 勛圖眻畦 of North Carolina filed an amicus brief arguing that the search was unconstitutional because Mr. Wrights eventual consent was the result of police coercion. Our brief urges the court to consider the totality of the circumstances that make one more susceptible to coercion, including race and poverty.
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North Carolina Supreme Court
Dec 2024

Reforming Police
State v. Wright
This case in the North Carolina Supreme Court involves the question of whether the police violated the U.S. Constitution when they searched the defendant, Mr. Wrights, backpack even after he repeatedly said no to the search requests. The 勛圖眻畦 alongside the 勛圖眻畦 of North Carolina filed an amicus brief arguing that the search was unconstitutional because Mr. Wrights eventual consent was the result of police coercion. Our brief urges the court to consider the totality of the circumstances that make one more susceptible to coercion, including race and poverty.