Topic: Criminal Law

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10 of TIME's 100 'most influential'

What does it mean to be influential today? TIME Magazine may not have a scientific answer, but they identified scores of people in their 2012 “100 Most Influential People in the World” list, released this week. Here is a sampling of 10 people from around the world who made the cut.
Censored: 5 plays and novels banned around the globe

Censorship of the arts has a long history, from ancient Greece to present-day Thailand. Here is a list of five plays and novels banned, for a variety of reasons, in regions across the globe.
London: 8 stories from its residents

8 Londoners tell their stories about living in the city that will host the Olympics.
9 best books featuring notorious figures

Thomas Craughwell lists these books as the best myth-busting histories centered on notorious figures.
'Honor killings' in Canada: 5 responses to the Shafia verdict

Here are five opinions and editorials published in Canadian news outlets after the guilty verdict, which carried a sentence of life in prison with no parole for 25 years.

All Content

What causes wrongful convictions? Lies, mistaken eyewitnesses top the list.

Researchers examined 873 wrongful convictions and found that perjury or false accusations were responsible for more than half. New report offers insight into what leads to miscarriages of justice.
Cover Story
US prison inmates returning to society: How will they be received?

States, eager to save money and adopt alternatives to incarceration, release inmates in record numbers. Is society ready for the surge?
'Torture memos' author can't be sued for harsh interrogations, court rules

José Padilla, who claims he was tortured while being detained on allegations of terror-related activity, was suing John Yoo, the Bush aide whose memos set out broadly permissive standards for inflicting physical and mental harm during interrogations.
Trying youths as adults hurts families and taxpayers, but not crime

If a juvenile court decides today that accused Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane is competent to stand trial, he could become one of 250,000 youths prosecuted in adult criminal court every year. This practice harms young people, doesn't save taxpayers money, and doesn't reduce crime.
Kenya races to transfer ICC election violence case to Africa

The conviction of Liberian President Charles Taylor sent shock waves around Africa. Kenya's President Kibaki wants to move trials of Kenyan politicians to an African, to receive 'fair' justice.
Zimmerman case will likely go to jury

While many criminal cases end in plea agreements before trial, experts say the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by a neighhorhood watch volunteer will probably end in a jury trial.
10 of TIME's 100 'most influential'

What does it mean to be influential today? TIME Magazine may not have a scientific answer, but they identified scores of people in their 2012 “100 Most Influential People in the World” list, released this week. Here is a sampling of 10 people from around the world who made the cut.
Kindergartner handcuff case: Do we need police in schools?

The handcuff case of a Georgia kindergartner who threw a tantrum renews national debate about police in schools.
GSA Executive Takes Fifth Amendment

The regional executive for the Western Regions Conference's chair was empty for the rest of the hearing after he invoked his privilege against self-incrimination.
Breivik trial: Norwegians rethink role of psychiatry in courts

The trial of Anders Behring Breivik for the worst peacetime atrocity in Norwegian history is set to begin tomorrow, with his mental health at the crux of the case.
Africa Monitor
Congo president counters call for Army defection by rebel Bosco

President Kabila suspended Army operations and consolidated forces in response to Army commander Bosco Ntaganda's efforts to encourage defections last week, writes a blogger
Officers receive long sentences in Katrina shootings

A federal judge sentenced four officers to 35 to 60 years in prison, while expressing frustration that other officers received light sentences under negotiated pleas.
Censored: 5 plays and novels banned around the globe

Censorship of the arts has a long history, from ancient Greece to present-day Thailand. Here is a list of five plays and novels banned, for a variety of reasons, in regions across the globe.
Trayvon Martin case: use of Stand Your Ground law or pursuit of a black teen?

A grand jury in Florida and the US Justice Department will both probe the Feb. 26 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin. Key questions: Did the alleged gunman racially profile Trayvon? And did he use the Stand Your Ground law appropriately?
Supreme Court sizes up teens who murder

Two cases involving life sentences for 14-year-olds who murdered will test the Supreme Court's past rulings that teens are not small adults and must be given a chance for redemption.
Keep Calm
Hague court issues its first guilty verdict against Congo warlord Lubanga

The guilty verdict against Lubanga will draw new attention to pending cases against 20 other indictees, including Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, the focus of Invisible Children's Kony2012 video campaign. 
Kony 2012: Director of video agrees with critics (+video)

Kony 2012: The ICC chief prosecutor praised the Kony 2012 video Monday. The director of the Invisible Children viral video agrees that he 'oversimplified' the issues.
Keep Calm
When Joseph Kony almost came in from the cold: Juba peace talks (+video)

Joseph Kony showed his face to the world in 2006. Peace talks in the South Sudan city of Juba between 2006 and 2008 held out the promise of an end to Africa's longest insurgency. Here's how they ended.
Is China opening up?

China's highest state body has started to consult the public, opening the door on its secretive legislative process, even if only a crack.
Students return to Ohio high school after Monday's shooting

Police were on hand as students arrived under cloudy skies by car, on foot and by school bus at 1,100-student Chardon High School, which resumed classes following Monday's shooting.
Ohio school shooting: State likely to seek adult trial for teen suspect

Suspect T.J. Lane appeared in juvenile court Tuesday, where the judge ordered him held in custody pending trial for Monday's school shooting in Chardon, Ohio. The state is one that routinely transfers minors to adult court.
Horizons
Encrypt your computer, get out of jail free? Not quite.

An appeals court ruled last week that in certain cases, handing over the password to an encrypted hard drive is a form of giving testimony, and is protected under the Fifth Amendment. But that doesn't mean criminals can use password protection to hide evidence -- decryption is only protected if prosecutors don't know what's on the drive.
Can silence before an arrest be used at trial? Supreme Court refuses case.

The appeal had asked the Supreme Court to examine whether the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination bars a prosecutor's use of a defendant's pre-arrest silence as evidence of guilt.
London: 8 stories from its residents

8 Londoners tell their stories about living in the city that will host the Olympics.
Crisis in Maldives: Police issue warrant for ousted president

The former president of the Maldives awaited arrest in his house on Thursday, vowing to stay and fight against the government he says ousted him in a coup.