Genetic, Genotyping, and Code: Litigating Probabilistic Genotyping and Forensic Genetic Genealogy
The field of DNA evidence continues to mutate. Probablistic genotyping software (PGS) and Forensice Genetic Genealogy (FGG) which searches commercial DNA databases for familial matches, are increasingly being employed in criminal investigations. This panel provides tools to challenge the evidence they generate, including what sorts of things your should ask for in discovery, and information about the companies providing these services.
- Nicola Morrow, Legal Fellow, NACDL Fourth Amendment Center
- Megan Graham, Director fo the Technology Law Clinic, University of Iowa College of Law
Raiding the Genome: How the United States Government Is Abusing Its Immigration Powers to Amass DNA for Future Policing
For years, our nation’s federal DNA database has been filled with profiles created based on samples from criminal policing. Following a Department of Justice rule from the first Trump presidency, DHS’s immigration enforcement agents have been adding profiles to the same DNA database. This presentation provides an overview of DHS’s DNA collection program and discuss its implications for criminal defense.
- Emerald Tse, Associate, Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law
Watched Youth: Challenging Surveillance Technology that Criminalize Youth and Young Adults
Surveillance tools and technologies have accelerated the ability of police, prosecutors and courts to monitor young people at all times - in school and beyond. These controversial surveillance technologies widen the carceral footprint in the classroom and beyond. From electronic searches of social media and cellphones, to GPS equipped ankle monitors, to school surveillance this session will address the unique challenges that arise when representing young clients in a world where their actions are increasingly watched 24/7. Panelists discuss strategies to safeguard the rights of young people and mitigate the impact of surveillance on their lives and case outcomes.
- Clarence Okoh, Georgetown Center for Privacy and Technology
- Kate Weisburd, Professor of Law, University of California Law San Fransico
Reimagining Technology’s Role in Juvenile Justice
The criminal legal system increasingly leverages surveillance technolgy against our clients, especially young ones. Join as we explore alternatives to technology in the juvenile justice space.
- Jarrell Daniels, Project Director & Community Management Liaison, Columbia University Center for Justice
Decoding AI-Generated Police Reports: Implications for Criminal Defense
Explore the emerging role of AI in creating police reports: the challenges, and opportunities, and Fourth Amendment implications. This session provides insights into the accuracy and biases of AI-generated reports, equipping defense lawyers with the knowledge to effectively scrutinize and challenge theis new form of evidence.
- Maneka Sinha, Professor, Universtiy of Maryland School of Law
Shhh...They’re Listening: A Quick Tour of Big Data’s Collision with Jail Surveillance
We live in an age of data mining, artificial intelligence, and automated decision systems; a world governed by data science. As defense attorneys, we encounter big data every day in our cases without realizing it. In this session we explore one of the biggest, creepiest, and most far-reaching universes of data surveillance in our criminal legal system: jail-based community spying. By doing so, we will (1) find new ways to think about the surveillance environment we find ourselves in, and (2) identify new solutions that defense attorneys can implement in their cases to address the difficult-to-reach rights-based problems posed by our big data world.
- Kentrel Owens, PhD Candidate, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington
- Elizabeth Daniel Vasquez, Director of the Science & Surveillance Project, Brooklyn Defender Services
Defense Strategies for Obtaining Social Media Evidence
Defense attorneys spend so much time trying to keep evidence out of court, we sometimes forget the importance of obtaining evidence helpful to our case. This is particularly true when it comes to getting social media evidence from companies like X, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat who fight tooth and nail to defeat defense subpoenas, while providing the government with seemingly endless amounts of information. This presentation provides defense attorneys with strategies on how to obtain social media evidence and challenge the barriers put up by these companies under the federal Stored Communications Act.
- Hanni Fakhoury, Partner, Moeel Lah Fakhoury LLP
Unmasking Facial Recognition Technology: Tactics for Defense Lawyers
Facial recognition technology is increasingly utilized by law enforcement to identify people captured on video or in photos. Despite its widespread use the technology is fraught with issues related to reliability and inconsistencies in application. This panel delves into the challenges of facial recognition cases, exploring the technology's limitations, legal implications, and effective strategies for contesting the evidence.
- Tamar Lerer, Deputy of the Forensic Science Unit, New Jersey Office of the Public Defender
- Dr. Michael King, Associate Professor, Florida Institute of Technology, College of Engineering and Science
Tiny Constables: Automatic License Plate Readers and the Fourth Amendment
Automatic License Plate Readers have become a regular resource for police departments across the country. They have the potential to generate huge databases of location information that will be used against the criminally accused. Defense lawyers need to be equipped to raise challenges to ALPRs in their cases. Our panelists walk through how these systems work, the law shaping the ALPR landscape, legal strategy, and gave us a peak the new ways law enforcement use this technology.
- Sidney Thaxter, Senior Litigator, NACDL Fourth Amendment Center
- Nitin Kholi, Staff Scientist, University of California Berkeley's Center for Effective Global Action
Expert Litigation Guiding Principles (Expert i.C.P.R.)
Expert i.C.P.R. is the guiding principles for preparing to cross, call or exclude expert witnesses. The leading teaching methods on experts tend to focus more on civil expert practice and frame the use of experts as “Helpful, Credible, & Persuasive”. This framework is missing the principle, relevance. Relevance is the way judges, as gatekeepers, exclude experts or grossly limit our examinations. This presentation explains Expert i.C.P.R. and reinforce these guiding principles. During this presentation you also receive an explanation of “theme-based cross-examinations” & “story-rich direct examinations” regarding expert testimony in areas such as ballistics, DNA, cell tower and GPS
- Colette Tvedt, Chief Municipal Public Defender, City and County of Denver, CO
