Courts

obama and gates

Former Obama Officials Call for Oversight Over Targeted Killing

Obama's former defense secretary says there should be "some check" on the president.

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| Thu Feb. 21, 2013 6:04 AM PST

Monsanto: All Your Seeds Are Belong to Us

The agribiz giant's latest patent dispute heads to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

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| Wed Feb. 20, 2013 4:00 AM PST

SCOTUS to Consider Challenge to Campaign Donation Limits

A case coming before the high court could lift a 40-year-old cap on maximum donations to candidates, parties, and PACs.

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| Tue Feb. 19, 2013 1:15 PM PST
scales of justice

Georgia Man With IQ of 70 Granted Stay of Execution (UPDATED)

The state's own doctors say Warren Hill is too disabled for the death penalty. But that may not save him.

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| Mon Feb. 18, 2013 8:04 AM PST

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California Innocence Project infographic

Charts: The Staggering Cost of Death Row for California Taxpayers

An eye-popping breakdown of the ultimate punishment in the Golden State.

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| Tue Feb. 19, 2013 4:00 AM PST
Andre Thomas photoillustration

How Crazy Is Too Crazy to Be Executed?

The voices told Andre Thomas to gouge out his eyes. But even that hasn't convinced the state of Texas to reconsider his death sentence.

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| Tue Feb. 12, 2013 4:00 AM PST
death penalty mugshots

13 Men Condemned to Die Despite Severe Mental Illness

If juveniles and intellectually disabled people are ineligible for execution, why not paranoid schizophrenics?

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| Tue Feb. 12, 2013 4:00 AM PST

Invisible Women: The Real History of Domestic Workers in America

Forget Fran Drescher: Real-life nannies, housecleaners, and cooks have long struggled against sexism, racism, and exclusionary laws.

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| Thu Feb. 7, 2013 4:00 AM PST

Conservative Judges' Ruling Would Have Invalidated Hundreds of GOP Recess Appointments, Not Just Obama's

It's not just Obama's recess appointments that are unconstitutional under a recent court ruling.

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| Wed Feb. 6, 2013 1:10 PM PST

Good News for People Who Like Guns and Vacation Homes

A federal appeals court indicated that it might be unconstitutional to deny temporary state residents the right to purchase a gun.

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| Thu Jan. 31, 2013 8:19 AM PST

GOP Judges' Ruling Could Blow Up Obama's Consumer Watchdog

A federal court decision puts some of the Obama administration's most important regulatory decisions in peril.

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| Fri Jan. 25, 2013 1:41 PM PST
pro-choice protester

Mississippi and the State of Abortion 40 Years After Roe

Mississippi is just the most extreme example of states eliminating access to abortion.

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| Tue Jan. 22, 2013 10:54 AM PST
wsj nbc news poll roe v. wade abortion 2013

Poll: Record High Support For Legal Abortion in the US

A new WSJ/NBC News survey finds that 7 in 10 Americans are against overturning Roe v. Wade.

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| Tue Jan. 22, 2013 10:39 AM PST

The 9/11 Trials Could Drag on for Years

A recent defense department decision raises the possibility that the 9/11 trials could be tied up in legal proceedings for years to come.

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| Fri Jan. 18, 2013 1:37 PM PST

Roe at 40, in 2 Charts

Pew's latest polling has some interesting figures for the anniversary of legalized abortion.

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| Wed Jan. 16, 2013 3:48 PM PST
vampire

Bad News for Vampire Cops Everywhere

The Supreme Court will probably not let you draw drunk drivers' blood without permission and a warrant. Sorry.

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| Wed Jan. 9, 2013 11:24 PM PST
Illustration: Yarek Waszul

Inside the Radical Plan to Fight Foreclosures With Eminent Domain

Can cities save struggling homeowners by seizing their loans from lenders? Only if they take on Wall Street.

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| Mon Jan. 7, 2013 4:00 AM PST
blonde woman workplace

Man Fires Assistant For Being Too Hot and "Irresistible," Iowa Court Says He's Within Legal Rights

A warning to attractive women and girls everywhere.

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| Fri Dec. 21, 2012 4:41 PM PST

Short Takes: The Central Park Five

Ken Burn's new documentary about five Harlem teens wrongfully convicted in the Central Park jogger case.

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| Thu Dec. 20, 2012 4:00 AM PST

California Judge Out-Akins Todd Akins

"I'm not a gynecologist, but...," Judge Derek G. Johnson told a woman who claimed she'd been raped. And everything went downhill from there.

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| Fri Dec. 14, 2012 10:57 AM PST