Law

Police from five different countries collaborated to recover the stolen artifacts.

Authorities Recover 10,000 Artifacts Stolen by International Antiquities Trafficking Ring

The organized crime group had connections across Italy, Britain, Germany, France and Serbia

Heidi Schreck encourages a wider view of American justice in her surprising drama What the Constitution Means to Me.

Heidi Schreck's Riveting Play Deconstructs the U.S. Constitution

Her surprising drama about the founding document encourages a wider view of American justice

Texas state law classifies retired police dogs (and other law enforcement animals) as surplus government property not to be used for private benefit.

Texas' Retired Police Dogs No Longer Have to Be Sold or Euthanized

A new state amendment allows handlers and other qualified caretakers to adopt retired police pups at no cost

Illustration by Be Boggs

How the 'Blonde Rattlesnake' Stirred Public Fascination With Female Accomplices

In 1933, Burmah White was punished harshly—and amidst a media frenzy—after she and her husband committed a spree of crimes in Los Angeles

Cock-a-doodle-doo, losers.

A Rooster Named Maurice Can Keep on Crowing, French Court Rules

‘Maurice has won a battle for the whole of France,” the bird’s owner said

No image of Henrietta Wood survives today, but her story is recorded in court filings, including the verdict slip above.

In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won

The $2,500 verdict, the largest ever of its kind, offers evidence of the generational impact such awards can have

George Remus in jail.

The Bootleg King and the Ambitious Prosecutor Who Took Him Down

The clash between George Remus and Mabel Walker Willebrandt present a snapshot of life during the Roaring Twenties

To Remember the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, Commemoration Project Looks to Public Art

The Windy City was just one place that went up in flames that summer

Yosemite Gets Its Historic Place Names Back

A settlement with a former concessions operator means Camp Curry, the Ahwahnee Hotel and other iconic sites can use their original names again

A child picks out jury candidates before a courtroom audience.

When 6-Year-Olds Chose Jury Candidates

Before computers randomly issued jury summons, some state laws required that children do the picking

Trove of English Court Records Reveal Stories of Murder, Witchcraft, Cheese Theft

Archivists are cataloging documents from the Assizes court in the Isle of Ely, which tried serious crimes

An artist's rendering of the recomposition facility

Washington Becomes First State to Allow 'Human Composting' as a Burial Method

The accelerated decomposition method transforms remains into soil and uses just an eighth of the energy required for cremation

Photograph from the 2015 LGBTQ Pride celebration. Upward of 60 000 people took to the streets of Taipei for the annual Pride march, the largest such event in Asia.

Taiwan Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage—a First for Asia

Activists hope the law will inspire similar pushes for equality in other parts of the continent

The statue of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson stands in Justice Park (formerly known as Jackson Park) on August 22, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Judge Rules Charlottesville’s Confederate Statues Are War Monuments

But the legal fight to remove the city's statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson may not be over

Observers in the galleries of a legislative hearing about a marijuana bill in May 1973

Why the 1970s Effort to Decriminalize Marijuana Failed

The explosion of kid-friendly paraphernalia led the federal government to crack down on pot

A polar bear walks on the ice of the Beaufort Sea in Arctic Alaska.

Judge Blocks Oil Drilling in Arctic Ocean

The ruling says only Congress—not presidential executive orders—has the authority to reverse bans on oil drilling leases

New York is the second state to pass a ban on single use plastic bags. California was the first.

New York to Introduce State-Wide Ban on Plastic Bags

But the plan has drawn criticism from both business groups and environmental advocates

Tamara Lanier takes questions this week during a press conference announcing a lawsuit against Harvard University.

Why These Early Images of American Slavery Have Led to a Lawsuit Against Harvard

Tamara Lanier claims the university has profited off the images of her ancestors

Fingerprinting became widespread in the early 20th century.

The Myth of Fingerprints

Police today increasingly embrace DNA tests as the ultimate crime-fighting tool. They once felt the same way about fingerprinting

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, at her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Behind the Scenes of Sandra Day O'Connor's First Days on the Supreme Court

As the first female justice retires from public life, read about her debut on the highest court in the nation

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