• Do Jewish Prisoners Have a Right to Kosher Food? Court to Decide
• BY: The Texas Tribune   |   Texas   |   September 28, 2012
• The court will decide whether a Jewish inmate has a right to be provided a kosher diet. Lawyers say the change would cost TDCJ between $1,000 and $3,000 per year, or an extra 0.02 percent of the agency's annual budget.
• 8 Comments

• Parents Owing Child Support Avoid Jail (Not For Free)
• BY: Caroline Cournoyer   |   October 2012
• In Virginia, where parents owe more than $2 billion, a program helps solve the underlying issues that keep them from paying up.
• 31 Comments

• Sports Leagues Sue New Jersey over Betting
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   October 2012
• According to the four major sports leagues and the NCAA, the state violated a 1992 federal law that prohibited sports gambling and is ruining the fun for fans.

• U.S. Supreme Court Lets West Virginia Voting Maps Stand
• BY: McClatchy News   |   West Virginia   |   September 26, 2012
• The court reversed a January lower federal court ruling that threatened to upend an incumbent-friendly redistricting map.

• 2 States Try to Tackle Medical Malpractice Reform
• BY: David Levine   |   September 25, 2012
• At the root of both Massachusetts' and Oregon's reform efforts is creation of open and honest dialogue -- something missing from most malpractice cases.
• 2 Comments

• Report: Recidivism Rate Down as Texas Focuses on Treatment
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Texas   |   September 25, 2012
• Thanks partly to greatly expanded rehabilitation and treatment programs, Texas sent 11 percent fewer ex-convicts back to prison in recent years a significant drop in recidivism that is being replicated across the country, according to a new study.
• 1 Comments

• California Voters Closely Divided on Death Penalty
• BY: McClatchy News   |   California   |   September 25, 2012
• After years of steadfast support for the death penalty, California voters are now divided over whether to repeal capital punishment through a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, a new poll has found.

• Judge Refuses to Toss Florida's Early Voting Law
• Source: Tampa Bay Times   |   Florida   |   September 25, 2012
• A federal judge refused to halt Florida's plan to cut the number of early voting days from 14 days to eight days, saying there was not enough proof to show that the change would harm black Americans' right to vote.

• Judge Dismisses New York Fracking Lawsuit
• Source: Businessweek   |   New York   |   September 25, 2012
• New York state can’t pursue a lawsuit seeking a full environmental review of hydraulic fracturing, a federal judge ruled in a case that might have held up natural gas development in the Delaware River Basin.

• Wyoming is One of Strictest States for Ex-Felon Voting Rights
• Source: Casper Star-Tribune   |   Wyoming   |   September 24, 2012
• Despite aa 2003 reform, Wyoming remains the third most burdensome state in which to regain voting rights.

• Corruption Trial of Former Detroit Mayor Begins
• Source: Detroit Free Press   |   Detroit   |   September 21, 2012
• A decade in the making, the federal government's public corruption probe targeting former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and three others officially gets under way with opening statements.

• California Prison Riot Injures 13
• Source: AP/San Francisco Chronicle   |   Sacramento, Calif.   |   September 20, 2012
• Authorities say one of the injured was shot by correctional officers.

• Pennsylvania to Execute 1st Person Since 1999
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Pennsylvania   |   September 18, 2012
• The state Board of Pardons rejected a bid for clemency from a convicted murderer who is scheduled to become the first person executed by Pennsylvania since 1999.

• Camden, New Jersey's Curfew Halted in Court
• Source: Philadelphia Inquirer   |   Camden, N.J.   |   September 18, 2012
• The ordinance, passed a year ago by City Council, is intended to control crime in a city that is ranked among the most dangerous in the nation.

• Wisconsin Collective Bargaining Law Struck Down
• Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   |   Wisconsin   |   September 17, 2012
• A Dane County judge's ruling striking down many limits on collective bargaining for public workers will likely be appealed quickly and could go straight to a showdown on a divided, but often conservative-leaning state Supreme Court.