Law

Frozen sperm straws and embryos are stored in liquid nitrogen, in a process known as cryopreservation. One question confronting the courts: Should embryos such as these be treated as property, or as children subject to custody action?

After A Divorce, What Happens To A Couple's Frozen Embryos?

5:23pm August 25, 2015

by Jennifer Ludden

Former spouses who disagree over whether their embryos can be destroyed have taken their case to court. In the process, one thing has become clear: how far the law lags behind reproductive technology.

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Last October, a 15-year-old student and member of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington opened fire at his high school with a gun obtained from his father. The tribe had issued a restraining order against the father, but that information didn't show up in the

Crime Program Aims To Close Trust Gap Between Government, Tribes

1:32pm August 25, 2015

by Carrie Johnson

Native American tribes can be hampered trying to fight crime on reservations because they don't have access to federal databases. The Justice Department wants to help.

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National

New York Begins To Question Solitary Confinement As Default

9:43am August 25, 2015

by Brian Mann

Many corrections officers oppose efforts to change the practice of isolating inmates. They say solitary confinement has been a trusted tool in American prisons for half a century.

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National

New Ferguson Judge Overhauls Municipal Courts

6:34pm August 24, 2015

by Laura Wagner

Among several reforms, Judge Donald McCullin ordered that all arrest warrants issued in Ferguson before 2015 be withdrawn.

Former inmates, civilian staff and corrections officers returned to Eastern State this summer to talk about life in the prison. "This place here really did something to me psychologically," recalled former inmate Anthony Goodman (center).

National

How Solitary Confinement Became Hardwired In U.S. Prisons

5:00pm August 24, 2015

by Brian Mann

Early experiments in isolating inmates took place at a Philadelphia prison in the 1800s. Though discredited as cruel, the practice was later revived nationwide during the drug war.

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Black Lives Matter Activist: Hillary Clinton's Racial Justice Record Is 'Abysmal'

2:01pm August 24, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Daunasia Yancey, the founder of Black Lives Matter in Boston, about the group's discussion with Clinton last week.

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Tracing The Shifting Meaning Of 'Alien'

10:49am August 23, 2015

by Adrian Florido

Many immigration rights activists cringe at the term "alien." But decades ago, that word was embraced as a humane alternative to terms like "undesirable" and even "wetback."

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A mural dedicated to Freddie Gray remains in the Sandtown neighborhood of Baltimore where he was arrested in May of this year. Gray's later death in custody sparked days of unrest in the city — and, now, has inspired a course at the University of Maryla

Off The Streets And Onto The Syllabus: The Freddie Gray Course

7:03pm August 22, 2015

by NPR Staff

Gray, the black man who died in Baltimore police custody, is front and center in a new law class at the University of Maryland. The professor says the case lends a view on broad swaths of the law.

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Trymaine Lee reports in Ferguson in August 2014.

Reporting Post-Ferguson: A Journey To 'Very Dark Places'

6:08am August 22, 2015

by NPR Staff

MSNBC's Trymaine Lee was one of several African-American journalists who shared their stories of reporting on racially-charged violence with Code Switch's Gene Demby.

In That TV Ad, What Exactly Are Those Parents Worried About?

6:37pm August 20, 2015

by Marilyn Geewax

The TV ads say rules involving retirement advice must be "fixed," but they may leave you scratching your head. Brokers and insurance agents are behind the ads, which aim to block tougher new rules.