Law

Tioga, Pennsylvania police controversy illustrates need for better background checks

5:03am July 15, 2022

by Martin Kaste

It's getting harder for "wandering cops" — people who lose law enforcement certification in one state and get hired elsewhere. Many more departments are now performing interstate background checks

Politics & Government

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Biden administration over abortion guidance

5:03am July 15, 2022

NPR speaks with Elizabeth Sepper, a professor at The University of Texas School of Law, about a Texas lawsuit against President Joe Biden's over emergency abortions.

Abortion rights protesters gather at the Texas state capitol in Austin in June.

National

Texas conservatives have a plan to get around DAs who won't enforce abortion laws

5:00am July 15, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

A Republican state legislator's proposal would allow prosecutors from around the state to step in when local DAs refuse to press charges over abortion, as at least five Texas prosecutors have vowed.

The white gunman who killed 10 Black people and injured three other individuals at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., in May was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday on hate crimes and firearm charges. Here, a memorial for the supermarket shooti

National

Suspect in the Buffalo mass shooting has been indicted on federal hate crime charges

5:58pm July 14, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

The white gunman has been held without bail since his arrest after the May 14 shooting that killed 10 Black people and injured three others.

Alex Murdaugh, left, has been charged with murdering his wife and son. He's seen here walking into court for a bond hearing last September.

National

Here are the twists and turns in the Murdaugh murder case in S.C.

2:35pm July 14, 2022

by Bill Chappell

Lawyer Alex Murdaugh's indictment on charges that he murdered his wife and son is the latest bombshell to drop in a case that has transfixed the public.

These canines are some of the nearly 500 beagles that Homeward Trails Animal Rescue collected earlier this year from an Envigo research facility in Virginia. Now Homeward Trails is taking in additional beagles from Envigo, which bred the dogs for pharmace

Animal rescue groups across the U.S. band together to rescue 4,000 beagles

5:30am July 14, 2022

by Jaclyn Diaz

A federal judge ordered thousands of dogs to be rehomed from a Virginia research facility after several inspections revealed poor conditions. Animal rescue groups are working to do just that.

A tweet by former President Donald Trump appears on screen during a House Select Committee hearing to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Court documents reveal this tweet drew rioters to Washington, D.C., that day.

How Trump's 'will be wild!' tweet drew rioters to the Capitol on Jan. 6

5:18pm July 13, 2022

by Tom Dreisbach

In the cases against the hundreds of Capitol riot defendants, attorneys repeatedly reference how Trump's tweet motivated rioters to come to Washington, D.C. — sometimes with weapons and armor in tow.

Catholic leaders say new parents will need more assistance in a post-Roe world

4:56pm July 13, 2022

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Sisters of Life's Sister Bethany Madonna and Mike Phelan of the Office of Marriage and Respect Life about the church's work with people carrying unexpected pregnancies.

In this courtroom sketch, Joshua Schulte (center) is seated at the defense table flanked by his attorneys on March 4, 2020, in New York.

National

A former CIA engineer is convicted in a massive theft of secrets released by WikiLeaks

4:52pm July 13, 2022

by The Associated Press

Joshua Schulte, who represented himself in his retrial, told jurors that the CIA and FBI made him a scapegoat for an embarrassing public release of a trove of CIA secrets by WikiLeaks in 2017.

Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and Misoprostol, the two drugs used in a medication abortion, can also be prescribed for other medical uses. However some pharmacists have refused to fill prescriptions for them.

Health & Safety

Pharmacies may violate civil rights if they refuse meds linked to abortion, feds warn

4:13pm July 13, 2022

by Carrie Feibel

Pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for medications used for abortion could be violating civil rights law. The meds are also used to treat miscarriages, arthritis and ulcers.