Probate judges in at least seven Alabama counties refuse to issue marriage licenses to any couples, same-sex or heterosexual, so lawmakers may abolish licenses altogether. Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Montana have similar proposals.

It’s not a timeout: State laws, school policies and individualized education programs often allow involuntary confinement as a way to calm highly emotional students. Disabled and minority students are disproportionately affected by seclusion policies, which can include isolation and physical restraints.

The demand letter has joined the extreme style of public discourse. The speed of communication and cost of trial prompts the strong letter to follow a more dramatic and colorful model.

Jeffrey Deskovic settled a federal lawsuit against the authorities responsible for his wrongful conviction. Using some of his settlement money, he created the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, a nonprofit based in New York City committed to preventing wrongful convictions and helping exonerees reintegrate into society.

Lawyers complement their practice of law with knitting, sewing, woodworking and similar hands-on artistic endeavors. They say it helps them to relieve stress, refresh and refocus.

Of the 29 wrongful conviction rulings involving false confessions in the United States in 2017, 13 were in Cook County. Of the more than 260 false confession cases since 1989, about 25 percent have come from Cook County.

Florida would be in a distinct minority of states if it imposes a duty to rescue people in distress. The rule in the United States is you have no duty to rescue a stranger, and legal scholars are divided on whether that’s a good thing.

The Client Choice program in Comal County was organized by the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, a state agency dedicated to improving such defense without driving up costs. A year of data showed that it worked—clients had better outcomes and felt more listened to. The county liked the system enough that it still uses it today.

Court diversion programs are expanding in the opioid crisis, with judges increasingly an advocate on the sidelines. Local courts are pivoting from crime and punishment to carrot-and-stick, using more humane, interventional approaches to deal with the defendants with addictions who are overwhelming their dockets.

Child welfare agencies in Vermont, Minnesota and Ohio cite opioids as driving an increase in the number of children in foster care. A 2011 study found that opioid abuse was associated with increased domestic violence.