CRIMINAL LAW

Aspiring rapper Douglas Dougie Byrd was murdered on Tuesday, shot twice in the back of the head with a large caliber semi-automatic weapon, and police have issued an arrest warrant for the 18-year-old suspect Levi Slaughter.

Is ACTA an even bigger threat to Internet freedom than SOPA was?

Philip Vannatter, the investigator in the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, died in Southern California on Friday, his brother told the media. Vannatter was 70 years old.

The grant of clemency to a number of convicts, by former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, was met with a barrage of strong criticism against such actions. A recent study by Reuters points to the possibility of racism in the Governor's action. Barbour's decision to pardon or commute the prison sentences of more than 200 convicts surprised many; primarily because the number was enormous, compared to pardons granted by his immediate predecessors.

Voting on much debated SOPA and PIPA bills could be delayed in the light of recent events.

A federally mandated review of pending deportation cases in Denver found that nearly a sixth of those cases could be closed, presaging a national change in how immigration courts function.

The top Senate Republican urged Democrats on Thursday to set aside a bill aimed at stopping online piracy of movies and music, dealing yet another blow to controversial legislation that has pitted Hollywood against tech companies.

The top Senate Republican urged Democrats on Thursday to set aside a bill aimed at stopping online piracy of movies and music, dealing yet another blow to controversial legislation that has pitted Hollywood against tech companies.

Jones pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor on Wednesday.

Probation officers have determined that the younger of the two boys who pled guilty to tossing a shopping cart onto philanthropist Marion Hedges should not get jail time.

The House of Representatives will resume work next month on a controversial bill aimed at stopping online piracy of movies, music and other content, a leading lawmaker said on Tuesday.

U.S. legislation aimed at curbing online piracy, which had appeared to be on a fast track for approval by Congress, appears likely to be scaled back or jettisoned entirely in the wake of critical comments over the weekend from the White House, people familiar with the matter said.

White House officials raised concerns on Saturday about online-piracy legislation pending in Congress that Facebook and Google Inc. have decried as heavy-handed, but that Hollywood studios and music labels say is needed to save U.S. jobs.

The stars of Youtube's McDonald Beatdown appeared in court yesterday, pleading not guilty to charges of third-degree felony burglary.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys are in talks for a plea deal for Jose Pimentel, the man accused of planning to pipe bomb attacks on police officers and soldiers.

President Hugo Chavez has reportedly ordered prison officials to negotiate peacefully with the protesters.

A one-minute and 40-second viral police dashcam video released back in December by the Utica Phoenix, a weekly local newspaper in Utica, N.Y. that covered a story about Utica Police Department officers pulling over a vehicle for allegedly running a stop sign and potentially planting drugs inside of it, has caused uproar.

Youthful offenders are subject to a litany of abuses, including sexual assault, from their fellow inmates and from corrections officers.

A severe attempt to clamp down on Internet freedoms, a new law has outlawed Belorussian citizens from accessing foreign Web sites; violating the law is a misdemeanor, punishable by fines and the closure of businesses.

So, why would Philadelphia's story be so much worse than other similarly troubled metropolises?

China's most wanted man, who was deported from Canada in July after a decades-long legal battle, has admitted to his crimes and will now be handed over to prosecutors, state media reported on Friday.