Websites and apps for sharing crime and safety data have become outlets for racial profiling

Websites and apps for sharing crime and safety data have become outlets for racial profiling.

Aug 1, 2016 3:00 AM CDT

Business owners grapple with serving armed customers

There are a few constants at Brooks' Place, a smokehouse barbecue in Cypress, Texas, near Houston: You can buy brisket or ribs by the pound, owner Trent Brooks always mans the pit, and he's never without his gun.

Jul 1, 2016 3:00 AM CDT

Police face constitutional challenges for using cellphone tracking devices to locate suspects

Two years ago, Baltimore police obtained a warrant to arrest Kerron Andrews for attempted murder. Unable to find him at home, detectives contacted Andrews' cellphone carrier to track down the neighborhood from which his phone was emitting a signal.

Jul 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Police routinely read juveniles their Miranda rights, but do kids really understand them?

Jun 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Are private education programs for shoplifters a second chance or extortion?

Jun 1, 2016 2:40 AM CDT

States seek to stop voters from posting ballot selfies

Many people love using cellphones to take selfies and post the pictures on social media. Lately, one version of such photos has drawn the attention of lawmakers, free speech advocates and the courts. They're called ballot selfies, in which people take shots of their election ballots and share them online.

May 1, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Parole programs find benefit in swift-and-certain approach

America's founders believed in creating a criminal justice policy that was swift and certain—yet at the same time less harsh than England's "bloody code," which favored capital punishment for many crimes.

May 1, 2016 2:40 AM CDT

How much privacy are drivers willing to give up for better car insurance rates?

Drivers who want to lower their car insurance rates may someday have to allow Big Brother to ride shotgun—and that has some legal and privacy experts concerned.

Apr 1, 2016 3:30 AM CDT

Plaintiffs in California asbestos cases feel they’re being questioned to death

Grainy video shot last August shows 75-year-old Nader Kordestani lying in a padded recliner at his home in Calabasas, California, near Los Angeles. Off camera, a defense lawyer asks him whether it's true his health is failing.

Apr 1, 2016 3:20 AM CDT

Drought sheds light on the California’s water law deficiencies

It's a classic case of ignoring a problem until forced to face it. In the midst of a four-year drought, when the state had its lowest rainfall ever, California finally established a regulatory regime, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, to control who gets what groundwater.

Mar 1, 2016 3:10 AM CST

Federal appeals courts split over law on credit card surcharges

Merchants are prohibited by law in 10 states from imposing a surcharge on buyers who use credit cards for purchases. Yet those same laws allow merchants to offer discounts to those who pay with cash.

Mar 1, 2016 3:00 AM CST

Databases create access to police misconduct cases and offer a handy tool for defense lawyers

Vidya Pappachan, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society in New York City, had little time to prepare for a client's arraignment on a felony drug charge. But she had a tool at her disposal that allowed her to quickly look up information about the arresting officers.

Feb 1, 2016 3:00 AM CST

Can patent laws halt the reselling of used ink cartridges? Federal Circuit to consider

Feb 1, 2016 2:50 AM CST

FAA claims that airplane ride-arranging sites violate federal regulations

Jan 1, 2016 3:10 AM CST

Tug-of-war over interpretations of patent law continues between Federal Circuit and SCOTUS

Jan 1, 2016 3:00 AM CST