Criminal Practice

Criminal Practice Law360 provides timely news and analysis on criminal law and enforcement across U.S. jurisdictions. Coverage includes major prosecutions, sentencing trends, constitutional challenges, legislative developments, and key rulings impacting prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the courts.



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Latest News in Criminal Practice

  • May 28, 2026

    BREAKING: Justices Revive Mississippi Death Row Inmate's Batson Claim

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Black Mississippi death row prisoner who argued racial discrimination tainted his jury selection is entitled to habeas corpus relief, finding that Mississippi's courts improperly rejected his challenge to the prosecutor's juror strikes.

  • May 28, 2026

    BREAKING: Justices Say First Step Act Not 'Vehicle' For Innocence Claim

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that judges lack wide discretion to pare down sentences for criminal defendants under the First Step Act based on questions about the validity of a conviction.

  • May 28, 2026

    BREAKING: Justices Say First Step Act Can't Inform Early Releases

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that changes in mandatory minimum sentences cannot be considered retroactively when weighing if a federal prisoner should be granted early release.

  • May 27, 2026

    Feds Challenge Wash. Policy Denying DHS Undercover Plates

    The Trump administration took aim Wednesday at what it described as a new unconstitutional Washington state policy that denies undercover vehicle license plates to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials while still granting them to state and local agencies.

  • May 27, 2026

    Matthew Perry's Assistant Gets 41 Months For Ketamine Death

    Matthew Perry's former assistant was sentenced to 41 months in prison Wednesday by a California federal judge for his role in the actor's fatal ketamine overdose, delivering the sentence shortly after Perry's stepfather, Keith Morrison of "Dateline," chastised the defendant for not notifying the family Perry's addiction struggles had returned.

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Areas of Coverage


  • Influential appellate decisions in state supreme and federal circuit courts—especially those guiding trial strategy and evidentiary standards
  • Developments in intermediate state appellate courts with potential to shape precedent.
  • Federal, state, and local legislation or regulation impacting courts, prosecutors, and defenders.
  • Developments from state attorneys general, including prosecutions, policy shifts, and personnel moves
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  • POLICY & REGULATION
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  • Professional conduct standards for criminal attorneysDOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility
  • State legislative initiatives in criminal prosecutions and defense
  • ENFORCEMENT
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  • PROFILES
  • Profiles of individual prosecutors, public defenders and private criminal defense attorneys
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Readership

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