State Police Access to Federal Criminal Case Files:
Imagine you're a state or local police officer, and you're investigating someone for a crime. You want to know if the feds might have something on your suspect. Maybe the FBI or the DEA is looking at him, too, or has some dirt on him from the past. Should you as a state officer have access to the federal government's files? And if so, how easy should that access be and under what conditions should access be allowed? A story in the Tuesday Washington Post touches on some of these questions in the context of a new DOJ program to expand state access to federal criminal case files.