Law

Actor Jussie Smollett, center, arriving at Leighton Criminal Court in Chicago in July. at the Building on July 14, 2021, in Chicago.

Jury selection begins today in Jussie Smollett criminal trial

11:43am November 29, 2021

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The former Empire actor is accused of lying to Chicago police about being the purported victim of a hate crime in Jan. 2019. He is charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct.

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Health & Safety

News brief: Omicron variant, Maxwell trial, renowned fashion designer dies

7:50am November 29, 2021

A new coronavirus variant creates uncertainty around the world. Opening statements begin Monday in Ghislaine Maxwell's trial. Fashion designer Virgil Abloh has died at age 41.

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The trial of Jussie Smollett, who's accused of lying to police, is about to begin

7:22am November 29, 2021

by Chip Mitchell

Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of former Empire actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of lying to Chicago police about being the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack.

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Reproductive rights scholar on legality of abortion ahead of SCOTUS case

4:50pm November 28, 2021

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that centers on abortion rights in Mississippi. NPR's David Folkenflik discusses the case with NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray.

National

A breakdown of the felony murder rule, a doctrine invoked in Arbery convictions

4:50pm November 28, 2021

Three men were convicted of felony murder last week in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. NPR's David Folkenflik explains what this means with attorney Shobha Mahadev.

Books

Hit book 'The Lovely Bones' was based on a real rape. The accused is now exonerated

7:34pm November 27, 2021

by Neda Ulaby

Anthony J. Broadwater was accused of raping author Alice Sebold in 1981 after the author mistakenly identified him as her assailant. He's now been exonerated of the crime.

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Pervis Payne is taken off of death row

5:01am November 26, 2021

by Samantha Max

A man who faced execution for a crime he maintains he did not commit is no longer on death row. A judge in Memphis vacated the death sentence for Pervis Payne this week. But his conviction remains.

National

Three white men found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia

7:43am November 25, 2021

by Debbie Elliott

A Georgia jury convicted three white men of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. The 25-year-old Black jogger was shot and killed as he ran through a residential neighborhood.

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National

Brunswick pastor discusses the guilty verdicts in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery

7:43am November 25, 2021

What do the guilty verdicts of three men for killing Ahmaud Arbery mean for Brunswick, Georgia? NPR's Steve Inskeep asks Dr. John Perry, senior pastor of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church.

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What we should take away from the verdicts in Ahmaud Arbery killing

7:24am November 25, 2021

NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Eddie S. Glaude Jr. of Princeton University about the guilty verdicts in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in this moment of reckoning on racial justice in America.

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