An HBO documentary on the right that everyone has to a defense lawyer when they are charged with a crime, even if they cannot afford one, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film “Gideon’s Army,” was featured on “Democracy Now!” this morning. The film’s release coincides with the fifty-year anniversary of the Supreme Court [...]

(photo: Truthout.org ) A year-end report from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) indicates the “number of new death sentences in 2012 was the second lowest since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.” The number remained near the historic low number of death sentences in 2011. Seventy-eight people were sentenced to death in the United States. States that [...]

In a powerful short documentary posted by The Nation, a New York Police Department (NYPD) veteran, who has been part of the department for fifteen years, says of stop and frisks, “People don’t like police because of the harassment. And what civilians don’t understand is that the police department is forcing us to do these stops or [...]

A white supremacist named Wade Michael Page opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on Sunday and killed six worshipers. Three other worshipers and a police officer were wounded. Page was shot dead by police. As the incident unfolded yesterday, CNN provided coverage of it as law enforcement responded and as victims [...]

(photo: Truthout.org ) Was it when it was after 10 pm and the Supreme Court still hadn’t issued a decision? Was it when the Supreme Court issued a “temporary reprieve” instead of a stay of execution and left people emotionally on edge outside the prison? Or was it when there was an abrupt flurry of [...]