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Eve Brensike Primus

@primuseve.bsky.social

830 followers 87 following 68 posts

Law Professor at the University of Michigan Law School (criminal procedure, evidence, habeas corpus); Public Defender; Director, MDefenders Program https://michigan.law.umich.edu/faculty-and-scholarship/our-faculty/eve-brensike-primus

michigan.law.umich.edu

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Nov 13

Check out this MDefenders resource designed to help public defenders bring social science into criminal courtrooms. Data for Defenders collects cutting-edge social science research and helps defenders incorporate it into their advocacy: datafordefenders.org

Data for Defenders

Bringing Social Science into the Courtroom

datafordefenders.org

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Reposted by Eve Brensike Primus

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 12d

NEW: Hawaii's Supreme Court keeps releasing opinions that denounce the U.S. Supreme Court.

The latest? A new ruling that requires the police to record all interrogations from now on.

The author took it as an opportunity to say Hawaii's court will protect due process—while SCOTUS isn't:

Hawaii Supreme Court Expands Rights of Defendants, and Once Again Rebukes SCOTUS - Bolts

Hawaii justices ruled that their state constitution requires police to record interrogations. And they vowed to protect due process for Hawaiians—unlike, they said, the Roberts Court.

boltsmag.org

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Ned Flanders Fields, CFO of Antifa @duidefensela.bsky.social · 13d

Listen to your talk about the book on @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social sounds very interesting.

www.publicdefenseless.com/episodes/y9s...

How Public Defenders Can Make it Easier to Win More Courtroom Arguments w/Eve Primus — Public Defenseless Podcast

388 | How Public Defenders Can Make it Easier to Win More Courtroom Arguments w/Eve Primus

www.publicdefenseless.com

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Public Defenseless Podcast @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social · 13d

I actually got to use some of her points in a discovery argument this summer! Well received by the court.

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · 13d

My article on Burdens of Proof in Constitutional Criminal Procedure is out! Burdens are important (often determining outcomes in crim pro cases) & often overlooked. This article provides advocates with a roadmap for raising burdens more effectively.
scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcont...

scholarship.law.duke.edu

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · Sep 8

Investigation of death of 4-mo old at day care, suspected of being given Benadryl. Govt gets warrant to search phone of employee in charge of baby for evidence of Internet queries related to it. Texas Ct Crim App: Evidence suppressed, no good reason to think evidence was there.

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Reposted by Eve Brensike Primus

Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · Aug 31

MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT:

*ME Constitution provides greater protection against self-incrimination than U.S. Constitution.

*Any waiver of that protection must be "clear and unequivocal."

*Officers must "stop to clarify" ambiguous waivers.
www.courts.maine.gov/courts/sjc/l...

We do not specify that the waiver be given orally or in writing, but we require that it be clear and unequivocal, like we require for all waivers of constitutional rights. If the waiver of the privilege is ambiguous, an officer must, before any questioning, stop to clarify whether the individual is in fact waiving the privilege against self-incrimination. If, after a suspect waives the privilege against self-incrimination, there is any ambiguous invocation of the privilege, including the attendant right to counsel, the officer must stop any questioning and clarify whether the individual is attempting to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination. If the privilege is being invoked, questioning must cease.

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ACLU of Maine @aclumaine.bsky.social · Aug 31

Maine's highest court delivered a major victory for civil liberties on Friday. Our legal director noted that federal courts may continue to erode our most basic rights, so it is essential for state courts to take action by embracing their state constitutions. Read more ⤵️

Police in Maine can no longer guess if someone has waived their constitutional rights

Police cannot continue questioning someone if their decision to waive their right to legal counsel was “ambiguous,” according to a recent court ruling.

www.bangordailynews.com

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Sep 1

I also want to thank MDefenders Program Director Sofia Nelson and @umichlaw.bsky.social alumni Tezira Abe, Gail Engmann, and Blase Kearney for co-facilitating this weekend’s program with me. The students were lucky to learn with and from you.

a blue background with the words thank you for inspiring me on it

ALT: a blue background with the words thank you for inspiring me on it

media.tenor.com

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Sep 1

And that’s a wrap on @umichlaw.bsky.social’s Public Defender Training Institute Retreat after a final day focused on bond arguments and storytelling. I feel honored to get to work with the amazing aspiring public defenders here and can’t wait for the rest of the semester.

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Sep 1

The second day of @umichlaw.bsky.social’s Public Defender Training Institute focused on client interviewing, addressing mental illness and disabilities, and secondary trauma and self care. Can’t wait for day three!

a little girl with pigtails and a bow on her head says so excited !

ALT: a little girl with pigtails and a bow on her head says so excited !

media.tenor.com

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 31

Amazing first day of @umichlaw.bsky.social Public Defender Training Institute yesterday talking about the role of the public defender, ethics, addressing racism in the system, and culture in public defender offices. Looking forward to day two!

a baby is screaming in a crowd of people while sitting in a stadium .

ALT: a baby is screaming in a crowd of people while sitting in a stadium .

media.tenor.com

Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 30

The room is set for this year’s @umichlaw.bsky.social kickoff Retreat for the Public Defender Training Institute. Now we wait for the students!

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 29

Welcome to the first week of classes @umichlaw.bsky.social! Students, if you are interested in becoming a public defender or criminal legal system reformer or if you are public defender curious, check out the MDefenders calendar of events for this semester: www.law.umich.edu/mdefenders/s...

Calendar of MDefenders Events for Fall 2025 | University of Michigan Law School

www.law.umich.edu

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 29

New @umichlaw.bsky.social #DataforDefenders brief arguing that gender-based trauma is essential mitigating evidence for sentencing and explaining how courts should use it: datafordefenders.org

Data for Defenders

Bringing Social Science into the Courtroom

datafordefenders.org

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 29

New @umichlaw.bsky.social #DataforDefenders brief arguing that every step of a facial recognition search—the probe photo, database used, photo editing, algorithmic search, and human review—must be disclosed under Brady v. Maryland because of high error rates. datafordefenders.org

Data for Defenders

Bringing Social Science into the Courtroom

datafordefenders.org

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 29

Thanks to @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social for having me. I hope that this article will provide public defenders and policymakers with some good ideas for how to better protect defendants' criminal procedure rights. The draft article is available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Reposted by Eve Brensike Primus

Emily Galvin-Almanza @galvinalmanza.bsky.social · Aug 27

Robots are bad eyewitnesses

How the N.Y.P.D.’s Facial Recognition Tool Landed the Wrong Man in Jail www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/n...

How the N.Y.P.D.’s Facial Recognition Tool Landed the Wrong Man in Jail

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Eve Brensike Primus

Elizabeth Joh @elizabethjoh.bsky.social · Aug 28

As @orinkerr.bsky.social points out-you could apply this reasoning to the "abandoned DNA" cases--the coffee cup is abandoned but the genetic info on it isn't

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · Aug 27

9th Circuit: When analyzing whether a person abandoned their phone, giving up rights in it, courts should distinguish b/w abandoning the device & abandoning *the data* on the phone. Here, man who dropped phone after being shot did not abandon his phone or data.
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

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Joanna Schwartz @jcschwartzprof.bsky.social · Aug 4

Check out this new database of tens of thousands of California police misconduct and use-of-force records. It is an amazing and unparalleled resource - congratulations to all who helped bring it to fruition.

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 4

New @umichlaw.bsky.social #DataforDefenders brief arguing that even frequent drug use does not necessarily indicate a substance abuse disorder and should not be treated as if it does in family and/or criminal proceedings: www.datafordefenders.org

Data for Defenders

Bringing Social Science into the Courtroom

www.datafordefenders.org

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 4

New @umichlaw.bsky.social #DataforDefenders brief explaining that individuals w/intellectual disabilities have reduced culpability & should be treated at sentencing similar to juveniles, including banning mandatory life without parole www.datafordefenders.org

Data for Defenders

Bringing Social Science into the Courtroom

www.datafordefenders.org

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Eve Brensike Primus @primuseve.bsky.social · Aug 3

I would tell her to check out datafordefenders.org. We have a number of defense motions explaining problems with DNA testing that explain how those tests work.

Data for Defenders

Bringing Social Science into the Courtroom

datafordefenders.org

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Reposted by Eve Brensike Primus

Richard Primus @richardprimus.bsky.social · Jul 25

Each year, we give money to our local NPR & PBS affiliates. We just made this year's contribution, and we doubled it, because quality journalism & reliable information are crucial to a free society, and the federal executive branch is undermining that stuff, in part by defunding it.

You too?

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · Jul 24

Officer stops car for traffic violation. Several people are in the car, and they're all acting suspiciously. Cop holds car for drug detection dog, which alerts; drugs found. Maine SCT: Suppress the drugs. Officer lacked reas suspicion to continue stop.
storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2025/07/...

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · Jul 23

Defendant had a constitutional right not to consent to a search of his phone, so the court can't use his refusal to consent as an aggravating factor to increase his sentence following conviction, Ohio state appellate court rules.
www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf...

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