California’s Medical Marijuana Morass

An effort to identify five performing orcas as slaves failed in part, argues one scholar, because there’s no legal precedent establishing them as persons.

San Francisco City Hall embodies the thrill of wedded bliss while it endures the fallout over Prop. 8

A family law professor explains why differences between states over gay marriage may lead to a deluge of court cases.

PETA’s lawsuit on behalf of five orcas at SeaWorld could end in a splash or a belly flop for animal rights.

New international measures to end fish poaching on the high seas would enforce laws where the poacher calls, not where their ships are registered.

There is a way the U.S. Supreme Court can extract some sense out of a wildly politicized Voting Rights Act it heard Monday, argues a prominent redistricting specialist.

How far can the FCC go in regulating blue language and nipple slips on broadcast media? Three decades since tackling the seven dirty words, the Supreme Court is poised to answer that question again.

The animal rights movement may set their sights on veterinarians, warn protectors of biomedical animal research.

In a nation where corporations are people and others want fetuses to be, a core of philosophers and attorneys are trying develop laws to declare animals “legal persons.”

Law professor David Friedman offers a libertarian thought experiment in which the concept of law — i.e. rights enforcement — is determined by the marketplace, and not the political process.

Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution, similar to America’s FBI, isn’t doing its job against all the threats its homeland faces.

The upcoming U.S. Supreme Court debate on health-care reform offers a prime time to start televising its hearings and allowing cameras in the courtroom.

Europeans are lagging the United States in using aerial drones for police work – and they don’t really mind.

A federal judge says tobacco companies’ complaints about the heavy hand of government forcing them to gainsay their own products have merit.

Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in efforts to force the U.S. government to better administer the Indian Trust, was a leader in having the feds pay for their mandates.

Decentralized regulation in the gun-friendly U.S. creates ample opportunities for guns to leech from lightly regulated areas to stricter locales.

Since the LAPD’s cold case unit began 10 years ago, detectives have used science to arrest serial killers and dozens of others who thought they had gotten away with murder.

A federal effort to shut down state-legalized marijuana dispensaries in California is the latest example of the topsy-turvy habitat that growers, users and cops live in with medical marijuana.

While laws preventing Islamic legal codes from supplanting American jurisprudence are often thrown out, that isn’t stopping Sharia from becoming a wedge issue in the 2012 election.

The fight over whether the Internet should have a meter has created some unexpected alliances in the groups lobbying the FCC.

While giving the public notice of sex offenders living in their midst reduces sex crime overall, it doesn’t seem to keep convicted offenders from striking again.

How far can federal regulators go in cramming ugly — if accurate — messages onto packs of cigarettes over the objections of the tobacco companies that sell them?

In a podcast conversation with law and economics professor Gillian Hadfield, she expounds on ways to bring more legal services to Americans without requiring vast new armies of expensive lawyers.

It’s business as usual for many police agencies, even after bungled eyewitness procedures led to high-profile exonerations.

The LAPD’s Sean Malinowski wants to prevent crime with “predictive policing,” which can forecast patterns of where crime occurs using computer algorithms.

Why a globalized U.S. economy requires new legal infrastructure devised and controlled by innovators (who will probably be something or someone other than law firms or lawyers).

Offering help to fathers who can’t — as opposed to won’t — make child support payments.

The plodding effort to bring a modicum of common sense to how the U.S. declassifies its documents has resisted most efforts to rev it up in the digital age.

There’s no black-and-white answer on the legality of killing Osama bin Laden, regardless of whether it’s approached as a law enforcement issue or as part of an ongoing war.

Despite concerns that outlawing circumcision may harm efforts to limit the spread of AIDS, San Francisco’s intactivists have gotten a proposed ban on the ballot.

Even with the passage of time, the idea that “foot soldiers” responsible for the Holocaust — even in a small way — must pay their accounts remains alive.

In this Miller-McCune Q&A, Los Angeles County’s top cop Lee Baca explains why he wants to offer an education to tens of thousands of prisoners.

Ordering in the court may be the new cry as a look at judges’ decisions made before and after lunch shows a wide difference in outcome.

A court case surrounding gene patents for high-risk forms of breast cancer puts two viewpoints of “products of nature” on the stand.

Drug courts can help ease the U.S. prison population and usher America into the civilized world when it comes to prosecuting drug-use offenses.

The idea that governments can reduce both addiction and street crime — and maybe bleed black markets dry — by managing drug distribution has gained momentum.

Steve Santorelli gets computing experts and law enforcers to cooperate in a global fight against organized Internet crime.

David Onek works to bring together stakeholders in the criminal justice system who often agree — usually without knowing they do.

Hate crimes against people with disabilities are widespread and often involve extraordinary levels of sadism. The first step in combating these shameful incidents is an acknowledgment that they exist.

Why incarceration should be just one of many strategies helping neighborhoods that produce bumper crops of crooks.

Some crime victims find their only real healing comes from a face-to-face meeting with the criminals who hurt them. Can research into this counterintuitive process help more victims regain control of their lives?

Susan Herman, author of “Parallel Justice for Victims of Crimes,” wonders what if society did not see its help for victims as mere compassion or charity, but a core societal obligation?

John Kampfner, the head of the London-based Index on Censorship, discusses the threats to free expression in the world, from the dictator’s muzzle to the playwright’s pen.

The debate over the use of torture usually pivots on whether it delivers useful intelligence, but new research suggests many Americans are drawn to its aura of righteous retribution.

While a legalized marijuana crop wouldn’t solve all of California’s agricultural woes, it might still keep the state in the green.

Changes in attitudes, technology and finances have eroded the stance that a prison cell is the best home for every convicted criminal. Alternative sentencing is finding creative ways to deal with low-level, nonviolent offenders.

Better-educated police officers resort less often to using force, research shows.

Post-Katrina New Orleans, still rife with blighted housing, is a lesson for recovering from future disasters.

New research suggests that, in terms of influencing key judicial decisions, public defenders are as effective as their private counterparts.

Regarding same-sex marriage, there’s less daylight than might be expected between religious conservatives and some LGBT activists.

Critics draw attention to massive class actions that compensate attorneys well but recompense the afflicted with little or nothing of value.

New research finds women who kill their cheating lovers receive shorter sentences than men in the same situation.

A look at U.S. Supreme Court nominees’ actual answers during their Senate grilling finds the perception that they’re getting cagier isn’t actually true.

State courts should stand firm on equal school funding and make sure legislators and governors show kids the money, a law scholar writes.

Crucifixes in Italian classrooms, like a cross in the Mojave Desert, attract legal trouble.

Gauging views of the American people on Supreme Court justices suggests that while empathy is in the eye of the beholder, it’s a value most people favor on the bench.

In this week’s podcast, we look at districts laying claim to their prison inmates, revisions to Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, why there aren’t more women in U.S. public office, and a closer look at changes to psychiatry’s “bible.”

U.N. special rapporteur Philip Alston, Miller-McCune’s most recent Wonking Class Hero, takes on the arms-length warfare of drones.

With few resources but the force of his title — U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions — Philip Alston holds governments accountable for the politically motivated killings they commit, or ignore.

A new generation of Muslims brings Western governments to revisit old ideas about school prayer.

Researchers fear that a lawsuit aimed at the developer of the “hockey stick” temperature map is actually a political salvo at science.

Feeling let down by that financial firm you invested in? New research suggests class-action lawsuits should go after the people responsible for your loss, not the company.

Be prepared for a search of what’s on your laptop as you cross into the United States these days.

In Texas, one county’s experiment in evidence-based probation reform has cut recidivism and revocations, saved money and served as a model for other jurisdictions.

A good day in court for Internet providers may lead regulators to a nuclear option those providers dread.

As the globe catches World Cup fever, our Peter Nardi sees a little hidden scamming among the confetti.

Will it give European intelligence agencies access to U.S. banking records?

A century and a half after defective mules prompted a law on false claims, the federal government is still working kinks out of the process.

A new analysis finds racial resentment is a major reason behind Americans’ support for harsh sentences for criminals.

No sooner are new electronic identification methods out on the street than do electronic tricksters (and presumably cyber bad guys) hack them.

How it happened, who will benefit, and how hard will it be to counterfeit these things.

The proper, and the pragmatic, place for trying suspected terrorists is in a traditional Article III courtroom and not a military tribunal, says noted law of war professor David Glazier.

How brain-scanning technology is redefining criminal culpability.

A slew of good ideas, from high-tech UAVs to just leaving a hose out for firefighters, may help in battling tomorrow’s brush fires.

The recent ruling on corporate political rights left some observers to cry the sky is falling. Some past decisions really did merit Chicken Little’s exclamation.

A small but significant number of wildfires are intentionally set. The fire starters often share characteristics but aren’t always cut from the same cloth.

A cross-national comparison of alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents indicates that stricter laws may prevent high school kids from drinking, but not from smoking pot.

Legislation named for a missing 31-year-old man would tie together the various data threads on the nation’s missing persons.

The question of ‘net neutrality’ will impact how you visit Miller-McCune.com in the future, but it’s a hot topic of debate today.

This legal device shows that profit and protection of natural resources can go hand in hand.

The final wave of Nazi trials focuses on now-octogenarian pawns of the end game that was the Holocaust.

Self-taught private investigator Jim McCloskey has helped free more than three dozen people who were imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit.

Hammered by budget shortfalls and seeing declines in crime rates, 20 states have reduced inmate counts.

Stop worrying so much about that vaguely Eastern European computer hacker and start worrying about that clerk at the DMV.

The verdict is in: Center for Court Innovation honored with national nonprofit award.

As some high-profile corporations publicly embrace the reality of climate change, are they moving faster than the American population as a whole?

A law professor explains how to keep criminal informants from duping prosecutors, police and the rest of us.

While the purpose of informed consent laws is to educate women considering an abortion, they apparently do little to dissuade them from proceeding.

Most states have no limits on how long a witness or defendant can be held in civil contempt. Perhaps they should.

Professor Howard Wainer’s exercise in presuming innocence exercised a lot of boffins eager to set the record straight.

Why it’s time to minimize use of the LSAT in law school admissions.

Analysis: As the nebulous concept of ‘judicial activism’ swirls around the Sotomayor confirmation hearings, political scientist James L. Gibson examines what Americans think is in the fog.

Four years ago the high court decided no minor should face the death penalty. Now it’s poised to determine if youths should face life without a chance of parole.

A 5-4 majority at the nation’s highest court finds that the work of crime labs is not infallible, and defendants have a right to make that clear.

Cognitive neuroscientist Itiel Dror finds that analysis of fingerprint data by human examiners can be ruined by unintentional bias. But he offers some relatively simple fixes that can improve the odds of reliable results.

Compromised crime laboratories are a national scandal that can’t be set straight until the labs are independent of law enforcement.

Hyperbolic attack ads from advocacy groups have diminished the popular esteem of the U.S. Supreme Court in the past, so as the campaign to place Sonia Sotomayor fires up, a little restraint is in order.

The debate building up to the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings suggests that real-world experiences are of suspect value in administering the law. Really?

Despite more than a decade’s worth of attention on programs aimed at girls and crime, researchers know little about whether these programs work better than other efforts.

Attorneys who put the ‘pro’ in pro bono start girdling the globe to offer free help for countries struggling to implement the rule of law.

A new study by three FBI officials suggests that cooperation — whether by witnesses or even other departments — is the key to closing more murder cases.

Pink slips, salary cuts, delayed starts and other woes hit the U.S. legal profession hard in this recession.

In light of Justice David Souter’s retirement plans and speculation that a female jurist will replace him, we’re revisiting this October 2008 story that details the effect women judges can have on a panel.

In its first four years, Catherine Rohr’s Prison Entrepreneurship Program shows some success in turning drug dealers and other convicts into legit businessmen.

Film takes a look at the unintended consequences of one weapon in the arsenal devoted to the war on drugs.

As new health threats, changes in privacy requirements and shifting legal precedents advance, the laws governing public health mostly remain stuck in the past.

A critical report from the National Academy of Sciences calls for national standards in forensics science, validation of new technology and crime lab ethics.

As decades of flawed and unscientific fire investigation techniques call arson convictions into question, new recipes emerge for a system-wide overhaul.

Sidebar: ‘Flashover defense’ gets two arson convictions reversed in the 1980s.

Miller-McCune’s experts offer solutions to problems that were under-discussed during the presidential campaign.

Miller-McCune’s experts offer solutions to problems that were under-discussed during the presidential campaign.

A new study finds that both more police officers and more community building are essential in reducing crime.

The route to a law that will help keep kids out of adult prisons.

There’s a movement to restore voting rights to felons who’ve served their time. Whether you’re for or against it likely depends on whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat.

Spate of disciplinary cases unlikely to erode federal judiciary’s prerogative to judge itself.

The simple prescription for reducing wrongful convictions: better journalism about crime and punishment.

Those suggesting a discussion on the legal drinking age appear to have focused on a specific outcome.

There’s a problem with problem-solving courts: Taxpayers don’t understand how well they work.

A legal analyst argues for a novel solution to the legal wars over anti-terrorism policy: Congress doing its job.

Why letting judges speak out during political campaigns enhances democracy and serves justice.

A new study finds the highly publicized gun-crime laws of recent years have had little effect on the homicide rate. But a new bipartisan bill just signed into law by President Bush may do some good.

Spatial representation provides genuine clues to crime prevention for urban police forces.

Opinion: The head of the nonprofit Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, which calls for global nuclear disarmament, suggests criminalizing the mere possession of nuclear weapons.

Rebuffed in the courtroom, critics of evolution head to the statehouse to see their views represented in the classroom.

A documentary looks at historic injustice in the Texas prison system — and comments on the habeas corpus battles of the war on terror.

A lot of mythology surrounds criminal sexual offenses, and, in many cases, these assumptions can hamper attempts to reduce recidivism.

Prohibiting sex offenders from living near schools sounds like a good idea, but such residency restrictions may make it harder to supervise offenders — and without preventing new sex crimes.

New research examines how controversial Supreme Court decisions affect American confidence in the nation’s highest court.

Inmate calls type of prison facility ‘the ultimate whetstone of human behavior, sharpening those who survive its rigors and deprivations to a keen edge.’

Presenting 10 cigarette commercials from TV’s ‘golden era’ featuring recognizable faces and truly astounding health claims.

Enter our contest and vie for a prize while unearthing dirt on past tobacco industry associates or practices.

UCSF’s Legacy Tobacco Documents Library demonstrates how the tobacco industry pioneered modern techniques for manipulating politics, scientific research and public opinion. It’s a sort of Rosetta Stone for deciphering coporate propaganda.

The touted AMBER Alert system is so inherently flawed it amounts to little more than "crime-control theater," according to a new report by researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno.