Law

Justice And Jury Selection: Judging Jurors Before A Trial

2:20pm June 11, 2013

Jury selection is underway in the George Zimmerman trial. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida in 2012. Lawyers on both sides are questioning candidates for the high-profile case.

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As Government Surveillance Powers Grow, Privacy Is Redefined

5:33am June 11, 2013

by Martin Kaste

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the public has had several glimpses of the government's growing surveillance powers. The Bush administration had a program so secret, it dispensed with judicial warrants altogether. The resulting scandals and lawsuits appear to have done little to roll back the spying.

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Feds Buckle On Emergency Contraception Age Restrictions

5:23am June 11, 2013

The administration had been trying to appeal a judge's ruling to make the morning-after birth control pill available over the counter with no age restrictions. The Justice Department said it would obey the order — sort of. The FDA may soon approve the over-the-counter sale of Plan B One Step without a prescription.

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National

50 Years After The Equal Pay Act, Gender Wage Gap Endures

8:18pm June 10, 2013

by Yuki Noguchi

President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 in an effort to abolish wage discrimination based on gender. Half a century later, the Obama administration is pushing Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, designed to make wage differences more transparent.

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Rail Project At Los Angeles Port Draws Environmentalists' Ire

12:21pm June 10, 2013

by Kirk Siegler

In California, activists and environmentalists are seeking to halt construction of a new $500 million rail yard next to the Port of Los Angeles. Activists say the massive project would mean even more pollution for nearby neighborhoods that already have some of the worst air in the country.

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National

Jury Selection To Begin In Trayvon Martin Case

7:08am June 10, 2013

by Greg Allen

In Sanford, Fla., Monday, jury selection begins in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer charged with shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. Police at first declined to charge Zimmerman after the shooting because of Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which gives immunity to people who, fearing for their lives, use deadly force in self-defense.

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Former Mass. Chief Justice On Life, Liberty And Gay Marriage

1:56pm June 07, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

With its upcoming decisions on same-sex marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court faces the same question that Margaret Marshall faced a decade ago as Massachusetts' chief justice. Marshall says she had little idea that the decision she wrote legalizing gay marriage would be groundbreaking.

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National

The History Behind America's Most Secretive Court

10:52am June 07, 2013

by Larry Abramson

Revelations of phone traffic surveillance by the NSA highlight the ongoing and controversial role of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. It was created to address domestic spying abuses uncovered in the 1970s.

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Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on May 15 before the House Judiciary Committee.

Holder On The Hot Seat Over Leak Investigations

5:52am June 06, 2013

by Carrie Johnson

The attorney general heads to the Senate on Thursday, where lawmakers are sure to demand answers. But being in the center of the storm is nothing new for Holder. Over four years in office, he has been a lightning rod for the president's fiercest critics.

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Comedian Marc Maron attends an event in New York in 2009.

Politics & Government

How One Patent Could Take Down One Comedian

5:32pm June 05, 2013

by Zoe Chace

The popular comedian Marc Maron, who works out of his garage in California, faces off with a patent holder who claims to have invented podcasting.

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