The National Pulse

Proposed Florida law resurrects the debate around the legal duty to help someone in distress

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.

Jun 1, 2018 1:50 AM CDT

Texas county experiments with allowing indigent clients to choose their own lawyers

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.

Jun 1, 2018 1:45 AM CDT

New York considers changing discovery rules that often leave defense lawyers in the dark

Advocates have dubbed New York’s discovery scheme the blindfold law, arguing that the lack of information requires defense counsel to prepare for trial, or advise clients about plea bargains, without ever seeing the evidence.

May 1, 2018 1:45 AM CDT

Appeals court stymies bid to regulate high cost of prison phone calls

After 14 years of pleas, the Federal Communications Commission in 2015 made a rule capping rates for in-state prison phone calls. But the affected telecommunications companies sued—and in June 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit handed them a victory. The court said the FCC overstepped its statutory authority when it regulated in-state calls, and that the way it set the rates was “hard to fathom.”

May 1, 2018 1:40 AM CDT

Courts are awarding significant damages to families whose dogs are killed by police

Substantial, high-profile awards have been won in cases in which judges found constitutional violations against owners.

Apr 1, 2018 2:25 AM CDT

Fighting Words: Can anti-profanity laws be squared with the First Amendment?

Anti-profanity laws remain on the books in some states. Such laws are sometimes considered constitutional under the fighting words doctrine—words the Supreme Court defined in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942).

Apr 1, 2018 2:20 AM CDT

Abuses revealed of watchdog public-records laws

State freedom of information laws are intended to allow citizens to keep tabs on their governments. While they expose wrongdoing, mismanagement, reckless spending and even scandal, they also can be abused.

Mar 1, 2018 2:25 AM CST

Bail industry battles reforms that threaten its livelihood

Although reformers say an algorithm called a risk assessment decreases crime rates, reduces jail populations and increases government savings, the bail bond industry sees a permissive tool that is bad for public safety and an existential threat.

Mar 1, 2018 2:20 AM CST

Law school and university namesakes stir up controversial pasts

Controversies over names and racist histories at colleges and universities are not isolated incidents.

Feb 1, 2018 2:35 AM CST

Circuit split on constitutionality of legislator-led prayer may lead to SCOTUS review

The great church-state debate appears to be headed to the high court. At issue is the constitutionality of so-called legislator-led prayer before public meetings. With federal appeals courts divided, the justices may soon consider whether local officials violate the establishment clause when they open meetings with prayers.

Feb 1, 2018 2:20 AM CST

Advocates are fighting to outlaw adult marriages to minors

Virginia, Texas and New York forbid under-18 marriages, except for emancipated minors. Six more states will consider legislation soon. More than half of all states do not specify a minimum age for marriage.

Jan 1, 2018 3:25 AM CST

Legal quirk lets struggling Florida greyhound tracks boost income with other types of gambling

Florida greyhound track owners can provide activities such as poker or slots as along as they keep running the dogs. Animal advocates and some track owners are looking to have this law scrapped.

Jan 1, 2018 3:20 AM CST

Defense lawyers want to peek behind the curtain of probabilistic genotyping

DNA labs are using probabilistic genotyping to analyze hard-to-interpret samples. Some scientists and lawyers worry that the computer code behind these tools limits its reliability and hinders due process.

Dec 1, 2017 1:35 AM CST

Legislators take aim at zero tolerance school policies

More than 25 states have amended their laws on zero tolerance in schools during the last five years.

Dec 1, 2017 1:30 AM CST

Colorado’s marijuana business is a criminal conspiracy to the feds

Under federal law, the decriminalized marijuana industry is in a slightly precarious position. Congress has prevented the Department of Justice from interfering with state-legal medical marijuana, but it left the DOJ free to enforce federal law against state-legal recreational marijuana businesses.

Nov 1, 2017 1:40 AM CDT