In Search of an Impartial Jury
Mass media is just the latest challenge for courts in an ongoing quest for impartial jurors—a goal that might be nearly impossible to achieve.
The Law Won
Can Jack Bauer Convince You to Torture?
Fictional depictions of effective torture may be more persuasive than reasoned arguments.
Our Turn to Torture
A short reminder of America's long history mixing psychology and war.
America Is Built on Torture, Remember?
The people arguing that torture contradicts our country's historical virtues are dead wrong.
The Experience of Dignity: Community Courts
At the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, the idea is deceptively simple: People are more likely to get better if you treat them with fairness and respect.
Secrecy and the Needle: Ohio's New Lethal-Injection Policy
Instead of fixing a broken system, the state is seeking to shroud it.
The Year of Data-Driven Government Accountability
Voters on just about every continent are rightly demanding that public officials govern with relentless efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and transparency.
Why Is National Security Agency Reform Stalling?
Privacy has a branding problem. And until we address that, your personal data is going to be up for grabs.
Homophobia Is Not a Thing of the Past
Despite growing support for LGBT rights and recent decisions from the Supreme Court regarding the legality of same-sex marriage, the battle for acceptance has not yet been decided.
Killing Your Husband to Save Yourself
Without proper legal instruments, women with abusive partners are often forced to make a difficult choice: kill or be killed.
I'd Like to Be Deported: A Day at Immigration Court
No judge, no lawyers, and very little hope.
How Copyright Law Protects Art From Criticism
A case for allowing the copyright on Gone With the Wind to expire.
The Imagined Sex Worker
The stigma against black sex workers can reinforce stigmas against all black women and all sex workers.
Death Row in Arizona: Human Experimentation Is the Rule
Recent reports show that chemical roulette is the state's M.O.
Punished for Being Poor: Big Data in the Justice System
Correctional departments use data-driven analyses because they're easier and cheaper than individual assessments. But at what cost?
We All Live in Ferguson
Unconstitutional violence perpetrated by police against people of color, minorities, and vulnerable populations is all too normal.
Arizona's Double-Talk on Execution and Torture
The state is certain that Joseph Wood's death was totally constitutional. But they're looking into it.
How the Supremes Pick Their Cases
The opponents of Obamacare who went one for two in circuit court rulings earlier this week are unlikely to see their cases reach the Supreme Court.
Outing the Death-Drug Distributors
Calling all hackers: It's time to go Assange on capital punishment.
This Time, Scalia Was Right
President Obama’s recess appointments were wrong and, worse, dangerous.
The ‘Hobby Lobby’ Ruling Isn’t a Women’s Health Issue
It’s a private health issue. And it affects us all.
Caring for the Condemned: Treating Those on Death Row
How the new mental health facility for California’s death row inmates reflects our nation’s ongoing ambivalence about the death penalty.
Protecting Abortion Clinics in the Age of ‘McCullen v. Coakley’
After the recent Supreme Court decision, clinics will likely have to turn to injunctions to keep protesters away, taking on the additional expense themselves or passing it on to those they serve.
A Major Victory for Privacy Rights
In a unanimous decision that went far further than most anticipated, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant before searching a cell phone—even after arresting its owner.