Law

Evan Mandery is also the author of three novels: Dreaming of Gwen Stefani; First Contact: Or, It's Later Than You Think; and Q: A Love Story.

Years After Historic Ruling, Execution Still A 'Random' Justice

3:44pm September 19, 2013

Evan Mandery's A Wild Justice is an account of the legal battles that led to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down capital punishment, then reversing course four years later. He says that today, prisoners who are sentenced to death have a 10 percent chance of actually being executed.

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Should It Take 2 Or 3 Years To Earn A Law Degree?

4:49am September 18, 2013

by Tovia Smith

President Obama, a Harvard Law grad and former law professor, has suggested that students can learn all they need to take the bar exam in two years. That would save them tens of thousands of dollars. But it would also cost law schools millions of dollars in tuition revenue.

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National

Documents Show NSA Violated Court Restrictions

7:54am September 11, 2013

The National Security Agency violated special court restrictions on the use of a database of telephone calls, but the NSA says it fixed those problems. That's the bottom line from more documents declassified by the director of National Intelligence. The document dump is part of an effort to share more details about NSA surveillance activities that were uncovered by former government contractor Edward Snowden.

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New HIV Cases Spotlight Adult Film Industry's Testing System

7:49pm September 10, 2013

by Mandalit del Barco

Adult film production in California is now suspended after a number of performers tested positive for HIV. Though news of the cases may leave some performers feeling vulnerable, the industry's trade group says its response shows that the system works.

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Boy Scouts attend a Memorial Day event in Los Angeles in May. A bill under consideration by the California Legislature would take away the tax-exempt status of the Boy Scouts of America.

National

California Lawmakers Target Boy Scouts' Tax-Exempt Status

5:22pm September 10, 2013

by Scott Detrow

Legislators are considering stripping the Boy Scouts of America of its tax-exempt status in the state because of the organization's ban on gay and lesbian adult leaders. Scout leaders warn the move would cause major damage to a group that serves 180,000 California youth.

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Crude oil that leaked from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig sits on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

BP Wants To Halt Deepwater Horizon Claims Process

5:21pm September 10, 2013

by Eve Troeh

BP is fighting the settlement it agreed to last summer that let the oil company avoid thousands of potential lawsuits over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP now says the claim process is corrupt and wants to stop all the money flowing from its claims fund.

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National

Basic Internet Economics At Stake In Net Neutrality Suit

5:20pm September 10, 2013

The basic economics of the Internet are at stake in a lawsuit that went before a federal court on Monday. Verizon is suing to overturn FCC rules that govern Internet service providers. The "Open Internet Order" prohibits companies such as Verizon from blocking or discriminating against certain kinds of websites.

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Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak took to a Chicago rooftop on Thursday to attract the city's gay and lesbian community to spend their wedding dollars in Minnesota.

National

Minneapolis Courts Chicago's Same-Sex Couples

6:34pm September 07, 2013

by Cheryl Corley

Same-sex marriage is legal in Minnesota, but not in Illinois. That has Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak on a mission to attract gays and lesbians to spend their wedding dollars in his city.

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Justice Department Tackles Quality Of Defense For The Poor

11:37am September 03, 2013

by Carrie Johnson

An unprecedented recent court filing from the Justice Department could have dramatic implications for the representation of indigent defendants. The department argues that the fix for broken public defender systems could include a court-appointed monitor.

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In her 21 years as a prosecutor, Kelly Siegler successfully tried 68 murder cases.

'Cold Justice' Is Coming To A Small Town (And TV) Near You

6:18pm September 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

On TNT's new reality show, Cold Justice, a former prosecutor and a former crime scene investigator travel around rural America digging into unsolved, sometimes forgotten, murder cases.

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