Here’s What Utah’s SWAT Teams Have Been Up To in 2015
Utah is the only state with a law requiring police transparency regarding “forcible entry” (no-knock or knock-and-announce) warrants and the use of SWAT teams. Last year’s report provided the first look into the...
SB226: Requiring a Warrant for Police to See Through Our Walls
This bill passed both chambers of the legislature unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Herbert. Libertas Institute supports this bill. A 2001 U.S. Supreme Court case, Kylio v. U.S., addressed the use of thermal imaging...
SB119: Requiring a Warrant to Access Drug Use Information
This bill passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House 55-17. It was subsequently signed into law by Governor Herbert. Libertas Institute supports this bill. In 2013, some employees of the Unified Fire Authority...
Shurtleff raid further proof of over-militarization of police
The following op-ed, co-authored with ACLU Utah and the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Laywers, was published in the Salt Lake Tribune. The actions of law enforcement officers during their recent search of former Utah...
U.S. Supreme Court Moves to Protect Cell Phone Data
In a unanimous opinion announced earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers must obtain a warrant to search a cell phone that is seized incident to an arrest. The case stemmed from the 2009 arrest of David...
Procedural vs. Substantive: Who’s in Charge?
Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee reviewed and discussed House Bill 70, a proposal we’ve been working on for months. Whereas law enforcement officers had been concerned about the bill, some ended up supporting the...