From Chad in Hawaii, a followup to our Nov. 6 episode on full legalization of marijuana in Canada: if the Canadian government has better data on drug-related crimes than the U.S., do they track other things that we don't? We put the question back to our friends up north.
Read MoreThe shooter in the Tree of Life synagogue murders pleads not guilty. David shares analysis on 90.5 WESA's The Confluence.
Read MoreWe often hear about new methods police try to achieve better results against crime. But do the police have any reason to believe that their new approaches will work? Are their new initiatives based on hope, or on actual evidence that they will really help?
Read MoreApropos of nothing in particular, Bruce from Norwich, CT wants to know about the legal risks of knowingly giving false information to federal investigators.
Read MoreCanada becomes the second country in the world to fully legalize marijuana. What happens next?
Read MoreRoutine traffic stops are the most common interaction between police and citizens. A new book presents the most unambiguous evidence yet that race is a critical factor in who gets pulled over and why.
Read MoreWith every police shooting of an unarmed civilian, we hear calls for civilian oversight of police. But just creating an oversight agency is no magic bullet. What does a civilian review board need to succeed? What’s the evidence on the success of civilian oversight?
Read MoreCriminal Injustice is made in Pittsburgh, and Saturday's massacre hit us close to home in more ways than one. It's time to be very clear about what we mean by "free speech," and about what kinds of speech can never be accepted in a free society.
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In a rare moment of sanity, Pennsylvania lawmakers from both parties agree: revoking the driver's licenses of people convicted on non-driving-related charges doesn't help anybody.
Anybody who's ever seen a cop show knows police are supposed to inform arrested suspects of their right to an attorney. But how far does the requirement extend?
Read MoreBree from Los Angeles asks about the difference between a "guilty" plea and a "no contest" plea: why would a defendant choose one over the other, and how might it affect the outcome of their case?
Read MoreThe Supreme Court banned racial discrimination in jury selection decades ago. But some prosecutors refused to abide by the rules. They developed work arounds, including sorting jurors by their reactions to the OJ Simpson verdict. Now the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) argues that using the OJ verdict as racial discrimination tool violates the Constitution.
Read MoreAn update on the case of East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld, who shot and killed 17-year-old Antwon Rose last summer, on a recent episode of WESA's The Confluence.
Read MoreLaw enforcement officers making an arrest have to identify themselves as cops... right?
Read MoreA Judicial Edition double feature:
1) Contempt is the primary mechanism judges use to maintain their authority over court proceedings. But some abuse that power.
2) A judge's racist remark is caught on tape, and wow. Just wow.
Read MoreBill from Illinois has a question about just how much latitude juries have to disregard the law or the facts in a case when making their decisions.
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Surveillance cameras are everywhere in American cities and
towns. They’re touted as crime fighting tools, but do they
really work? Are they worth the cost – in money, and in
privacy? Dr. Nancy LaVigne, vice president for justice
policy, of the non-partisan Urban Institute is the lead author
of the largest study of the effectiveness of surveillance
cameras.
A Las Vegas attorney representing himself in a defamation case pulls a gun on the plaintiff... in the middle of a deposition.
Read MoreKelly from St Paul asks: if you dump toxic materials into a lake, knowing it will cause deaths, can you be charged with murder?
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