• Bomb Threats Force Evacuations in 29 Tennessee Courthouses
• Source: Jackson Clarion-Ledger   |   Tennessee   |   November 28, 2012
• All bomb threats were unfounded. Tennessee and Mississippi follow other states that have recently dealt with similar bomb hoaxes.

• Supreme Court Lets Ruling on Illinois Eavesdropping Law Stand
• Source: AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch   |   Illinois   |   November 27, 2012
• The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the law — one of the toughest of its kind in the country — violates the First Amendment when used against those who record police officers doing their jobs in public.

• Supreme Court to Decide Whether to Take on Gay-Marriage Case
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Nation   |   November 26, 2012
• The Supreme Court justices will go behind closed doors Friday to decide whether now is the time to rule on whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry.

• Courts, Legislatures Divided over Police Searches of Cellphones
• Source: New York Times   |   Nation   |   November 26, 2012
• Judges and lawmakers across the country are wrangling over whether and when law enforcement authorities can peer into suspects’ cellphones, and the cornucopia of evidence they provide.

• Cameras Will Soon be Allowed in Utah Courtrooms
• Source: Salt Lake Tribune   |   Utah   |   November 20, 2012
• In a decision Utah Supreme Court Justice Jill Parrish said was aimed at "moving us into the next era," the Utah Judicial Council voted to allow audio and video recordings of trial court proceedings.

• Privatizing of Prison Health Care Leads to 2,000 Layoffs in Florida
• Source: Miami Herald   |   Florida   |   November 19, 2012
• The Scott administration is sending almost 2,000 state workers notices that their jobs are ending, part of the state’s outsourcing of prison health care.

• Utah Immigration Court Backlogged for Over a Year
• Source: Salt Lake Tribune   |   Utah   |   November 19, 2012
• Utah’s immigration court has been stretched so thin since Judge Dustin Pead left in August to become a federal magistrate, several local attorneys say their pending cases have been pushed back well into 2014.

• ACLU Sues U.S. over Mandatory Jail Time for Immigration Detainees
• Source: Newark Star-Ledger   |   Nation   |   November 19, 2012
• The ACLU claims the government unnecessarily incarcerates deportation candidates even if they are documented citizens and pose no flight risk or threat.

• Affirmative Action Ban Struck Down in Michigan
• Source: Detroit News   |   Michigan   |   November 16, 2012
• A federal appeals court has thrown out Michigan's voter-approved ban on affirmative action in college admissions and public hiring, ruling that it presents an extraordinary burden to opponents, who would have to mount their own long, expensive campaign to protect affirmative action.

• Utah’s Death Penalty Costs $1.6M More Per Inmate
• Source: Salt Lake Tribune   |   Utah   |   November 16, 2012
• Rep. Steve Handy asked for the analysis, the first study to examine what the capital punishment option costs the state and local governments.

• Proposed Nudity Ban Causes Controversy in San Francisco
• Source: San Jose Mercury News   |   San Francisco   |   November 15, 2012
• A group of nudists filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to stop the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from passing an ordinance that would ban nudity in the city.

• Planned Parenthood Asks Court to Allow it to Offer WIC Services in Oklahoma
• Source: Tulsa World   |   Oklahoma   |   November 14, 2012
• In September, the Oklahoma State Department of Health opted not to renew its WIC contract with Planned Parenthood, a decision the organization’s CEO said was politically motivated.

• Florida Courts Struggle with Supreme Court Ruling on Juvenile Killers
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Florida   |   November 13, 2012
• Since the U.S. Supreme Court banned mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole for juveniles convicted of murder five months ago, state courts have struggled to apply the ruling.

• Maryland DNA Law to Face U.S. Supreme Court Test
• Source: Baltimore Sun   |   Maryland   |   November 13, 2012
• Maryland's DNA law, which allows police to take samples of suspects' genetic material for possible matches to other crimes, will be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court next year, the justices announced.

• Voting Rights Act Requirement for Some States to be Considered by Supreme Court
• Source: Roll Call   |   Nation   |   November 12, 2012
• The Supreme Court agreed to step into the racially charged debate over the requirement that select state and local governments submit proposed changes to their voting laws to the Justice Department for approval.