Law

Strange Calling Error Suggests Reporter Stumbled Upon Cuba Target Of Phone Fraud

8:44am December 10, 2016

When Atlantic reporter Sarah Zhang tried to call Cuba, she got an error message, followed by a recording of War of the Worlds. She tells NPR's Scott Simon, she stumbled into a kind of telecom fraud.

National

Jury Shown Video Of Dylann Roof's Confession: 'We All Know I'm Guilty'

8:41am December 10, 2016

by Alexandra Olgin

Jurors in Dylann Roof's federal trial got to hear from the Charleston church shooting suspect firsthand. Prosecutors played his FBI interrogation tape that was recorded in 2015.

Lawrence Lessig Offers Free Legal Aid To Anti-Trump Electors

8:37am December 10, 2016

Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig will support members of the Electoral College who don't cast their vote the president-elect. NPR's Scott Simon asks him why he's decided to take up this cause.

The parking lot behind the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, S.C. in June 2015.

National

In Taped Confession, Charleston Church Shooter Says 'We All Know I Am Guilty'

8:58pm December 09, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

The man accused of murdering nine people in the basement of a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., told FBI investigators he was motivated by racial hatred.

There was a lot in the world of race relations to make your head hurt. But it wasn't all bad. There was also John Legend.

This Week In Race: Racism, Racism And, To Salve Your Soul, John Legend

8:33pm December 09, 2016

by Leah Donnella

Everywhere we looked in the news this week — in prisons, politics, online — we found strains of racism. It even shows up from beyond the grave.

Actress Sofia Vergara Sued By Her Own Frozen Embryos

6:33pm December 09, 2016

A lawsuit has been filed against actress Sofia Vergara on behalf of her two frozen embryos. NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Susan Crockin, who teaches assisted reproductive law at Georgetown University Law School.

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National

Alabama Execution Raises Questions About Drug Used In Lethal Injections

4:40pm December 09, 2016

The execution of Ronald Bert Smith, Jr. in Alabama is raising more questions about a controversial drug used as a sedative in lethal injections. According to Kent Faulk, a reporter for the Birmingham News who witnessed the execution, Smith heaved and coughed 13 minutes into his execution.

National

Jury Views Dylann Roof's Confession At Charleston Church Shooting Trial

4:40pm December 09, 2016

by Alexandra Olgin

In the federal Charleston, S.C., church shooting trial Friday, jurors heard Dylann Roof's taped interrogation. In it, he confessed to killing the nine parishioners.

Dairy operations run 24/7, but federal law excludes its workers from overtime pay.

Washington State Dairy Workers Challenge Their Exemption From Overtime Pay

4:38pm December 09, 2016

by Elizabeth Grossman

The dairy industry runs 24/7, but federal law excludes its workers from overtime pay. A new class-action lawsuit in Washington state is the latest challenge to that law.

The lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., as seen in 2002.

National

Alabama Inmate Coughed, Heaved For About 13 Minutes During Execution

1:05pm December 09, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

Ronald Bert Smith Jr. died by lethal injection late Thursday night, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stay his execution. A judge sentenced Smith to die for murdering a man in 1994.