All Law & Courts
Steubenville rape: New indictments send message on adult responsibilityThe new charges against four school officials, including the superintendent, in the Steubenville rape case include obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.
Brooklyn attack arrest: Is 'knockout game' a hate crime?Growing reports of the 'knockout game' are forcing police to take a closer look at racial motivations while also being careful to not spark copycat attacks.
Hate-crime allegations: four white students at San Jose State chargedThe harassment of an African-American student at San Jose State ranged from displaying a Confederate flag to putting a bicycle lock around his neck, police say. According to one expert, such details are disturbing but part of a pattern on college campuses.
- Human trafficking: As awareness grows, calls triple to national hot line
Some 9,000 US cases between 2008 and 2012 are analyzed in a new report by the organization that operates the national hot line. Among the findings: Children were victims in 33 percent of sex trafficking cases and 20 percent of labor trafficking cases.
Charges dropped in Rebecca Sedwick suicide case. Did the system work?Two Florida girls were accused of bullying Rebecca Sedwick before her suicide. The case exemplifies the complexities of responding to youth bullying in an effective, responsible way.
Supreme Court declines to block tough Texas abortion lawA new Texas law requiring doctors performing abortions to have hospital admitting privileges has forced more than a dozen clinics in the state to close. The case is on a path back to the Supreme Court.
JPMorgan Chase settles. Is $13 billion for role in mortgage crisis fair?JPMorgan Chase admits its employees misled investors by bundling mortgages in securities they knew were rocky. But critics of the record fine say most of the fraud occurred before the bank took on other firms' troubled assets and legal jeopardy.
George Zimmerman: latest arrest and a troubling post-verdict sagaGeorge Zimmerman arraignment Tuesday, for assault charges, raises new questions about whether the jury that acquitted him of the murder of Trayvon Martin got it right. Is Mr. Zimmerman an aggressive actor?
Supreme Court rejects case on NSA spying on Americans' phone callsThe US Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider whether the NSA, in collecting and storing information about the phone calls of virtually every American, overstepped its authority under the law.
Michigan shooting: Reasonable self-defense or second-degree murder?Theodore Wafer, a white homeowner in suburban Detroit, faces second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Renisha McBride, an unarmed young black woman who came to his door in the middle of the night.
Stop-and-frisk: New York AG report questions its effectivenessNew York's attorney general said the stop-and-frisk report – an NYPD spokesman called it flawed – sought to 'advance the discussion about how to fight crime without ... violating equal justice under the law.'
Judge throws the book at Whitey Bulger, Boston mob boss ... and FBI informantJames 'Whitey' Bulger was sentenced Thursday to two life terms, plus five years, for murder and other crimes stemming from his decades as a mob boss in South Boston. He still maintains he had immunity from the FBI and is expected to appeal.
Warrantless search: Supreme Court considers a puzzling caseThe Supreme Court decided years ago that when a home's co-occupants disagree over a request for warrantless search, the objector holds sway. But if that person is arrested and led away, then what?
Rod Blagojevich appeal is 'extraordinary,' prosecutors sayThe disgraced former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was convicted of corruption in 2011, and his attorneys filed an appeal this summer. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors responded.
Oklahoma abortion law that required ultrasound: Supreme Court turns away caseThe US Supreme Court action lets stand a ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court striking down the statute. It comes a week after the US justices dismissed an appeal involving a different Oklahoma law involving chemically induced abortions.
Gay marriage spreads to more states. Will the trend continue?With Hawaii and Illinois soon to join the list, that makes 16 states legalizing same-sex marriage. Proposed ballot measures in several more states, plus another federal court case, could accelerate the movement.
Progress WatchStates toughen laws against child sex traffickingStates are cracking down on child sex trafficking in the US, including prostitution, pornography, and sexual performance, by better identifying victims and attaching stiff penalties to new laws.
Public prayer: why devil worshipers came up in Supreme Court argumentsSupreme Court arguments over whether public prayer at a town board meeting violates the separation of church and state included a failed attempt to formulate a prayer acceptable to all beliefs.
Is public prayer permitted at town meeting? Supreme Court to hear case.Two residents of Greece, N.Y., a Rochester suburb, said the practice of opening town meetings with a prayer violates the separation and state. The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday.
Supreme Court skeptical about use of chemical weapons treaty in charging wifeThe Supreme Court heard a case Tuesday involving the prosecution of a Pennsylvania microbiologist who used toxic chemicals to try to settle a personal score. Federal prosecutors charged the woman with using 'chemical weapons.'
