On Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court held in a 5-1 opinion that the odor of marijuana alone isn’t a sufficient reason for police to conduct a warrantless search of a car. In 2018, the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana by people who are at least 21 years old became legal. However, the law specifies that marijuana cannot be used while operating a vehicle.
In the opinion, Justice Megan Cavanagh notes that “the smell of marijuana might just as likely indicate that the person is in possession of a legal amount of marijuana, recently used marijuana legally, or was simply in the presence of someone else who used marijuana” and that the smell “no longer constitutes probable cause sufficient to support a search for contraband.”
Los Angeles sheriff to retest 4,000 DNA samples. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will retest approximately 4,000 DNA samples after discovering some exam kits used in the last year might be prone to “intermittently poor performance.” On August 28, 2024, the test kit manufacturer sent a letter to the department, warning of the potential problems. However, the notice was forwarded to a person who was no longer employed by the department at the time of receipt.
It was recently discovered that the affected kits were in use for approximately eight months, from July 2024 through February 2025. The sheriff has shared that based on the information provided by the DNA testing kit manufacturer, the use of the affected kits “may have led to incomplete or suboptimal results” but is not likely to have falsely identified any individual.
New York prison inmates to be released early. New York state prisons will soon release some inmates early because the system does not have enough corrections officers. The news comes weeks after the state fired more than 2,000 guards who went on strike over poor working conditions. In a memo Monday, the corrections commissioner directed prison leaders to begin identifying inmates who were convicted of minor crimes and already set for release within 15 to 110 days to be considered for an early discharge. Inmates convicted of sex crimes, violent felonies, or serious felonies (such as murder, terrorism, and arson) would not be eligible for early release.
In other early release news, the Georgia legislature is considering a bill that is intended to reduce sentences for domestic abuse survivors in prison. The Georgia Survivor Justice Act calls for judges to resentence those who are incarcerated and impose shorter sentences on those who are convicted if they can tie their crimes to domestic abuse. Under the bill, if a judge determines family violence, dating violence, or child abuse contributed to a crime with a minimum sentence of life in prison, the judge—in most cases—would be required to impose a sentence of 10 to 30 years in prison. For other felonies, judges would not be able to sentence the defendant to more than half of the maximum permissible sentence. If the bill becomes law, survivors who are already in prison can request resentencing under the new rules.
New Jersey joins the ranks of states that criminalize AI-generated media. The state’s governor signed legislation Wednesday making the creation and dissemination of “deepfake” media a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. The measure defines a deepfake as any video or audio recording or image that appears to a reasonable person to realistically depict someone doing something they did not actually do. In addition to prison time upon conviction, the law establishes civil penalties that would permit victims to pursue lawsuits against perpetrators.
According to this article, New Jersey’s law stems in part from the story of a high school student who became the victim of a deepfake video two years ago. The only punishment for the person who created it was a short suspension because there were no laws against such media. At least a dozen states (including North Carolina) have passed similar legislation that targets digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery.
Emotional support tigers. Nevada man Karl Mitchell had seven tigers seized from his home this week. Officials said he had been violating special condition permits and ordinances regarding the ownership of the tigers for several years. Mitchell argued there was a reason he didn’t have a permit: the tigers were his emotional support animals. He asserts that he is a disabled veteran with PTSD and that his doctors had approved the tigers to work as support animals. He also claims that the tigers were rescued from Joe Exotic, the reality TV star of Netflix’s Tiger King.
According to this story, Mitchell has reportedly been in possession of the tigers for the past seven years and has been involved in numerous legal battles over the them. He has also been cited multiple times for violating basic animal care standards and once had his license for owning exotic animals revoked by the federal government.