Judge allows racist FB page as evidence in fatal stabbing

5 years for ex-guard who used pepper spray in inmates’ eyes

MONROE, La. (AP) — A former prison guard captain was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for plotting to abuse inmates at a privately run federal prison in north Louisiana. Roderick Douglas admitted spraying pepper spray into the eyes of two kneeling, handcuffed inmates, then passing the can to other guards at Richwood Correctional... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Law Enforcement, News

Uncle denies theft in Hawaii power couple’s corruption trial

HONOLULU (AP) — The first question a special federal prosecutor asked a witness Wednesday in an ongoing Hawaii corruption trial: Did you take the mailbox at the home of a now-retired police chief and his wife? “Absolutely not,” answered Gerard Puana. U.S. prosecutors say framing Puana was key to a conspiracy by ex-Honolulu chief Louis... Read More

Katherine Kealoha, Louis Kealoha

Top GOP lawmakers hold up nearly $10M for Kansas prisons

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republican legislators on Wednesday blocked nearly $10 million that Kansas corrections officials argue they need to deal with prison overcrowding and said lawmakers might reject Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s choice to be the prison system’s next leader. The actions by Republican legislative leaders decrease the number of male inmates that... Read More

Feds: No more education, legal services for immigrant kids

PHOENIX (AP) — The federal government has stopped paying for English-language courses and legal services at facilities that hold immigrant children around the country, imposing budget cuts it says are necessary at a time when record numbers of unaccompanied children are arriving at the border. The Health and Human Services department notified shelters around the... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Immigration, News

Immigration

R. Kelly to be arraigned on 11 new sex-assault charges

CHICAGO (AP) — Singer R. Kelly is expected to plead not guilty to 11 new sex-related felonies at his Cook County arraignment. Thursday’s hearing in Chicago comes a week after prosecutors announced the new counts, including four aggravated criminal sexual assault ones. Each carries a maximum prison term of 30 years. Kelly pleaded not guilty... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Entertainment, News, Sexual Abuse

R. Kelly

Jury to decide if dad should die after he killed his 5 kids

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Defense attorneys for a South Carolina father who killed his five children unsuccessfully argued earlier this week that he was insane when he killed them. Now they are expected to argue that Timothy Jones Jr.’s mental problems mean he shouldn’t be executed for the murders of the children, ages 1 to... Read More

Bad Parenting, Criminal Justice News, News

Timothy Jones Jr.

Opponents of pipeline argue land was improperly seized

GREEN, Ohio (AP) — Landowners in Ohio hope to convince a federal appeals court that they were forced by a federal agency to sell their property to a pipeline builder sending large quantities of natural gas to Canada. At issue is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of a project that allowed for the use... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Environment, News

Pipeline

Closing arguments set in Virginia abortion regulations trial

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal trial is coming to an end in a lawsuit challenging four Virginia abortion laws that women’s health groups say are overly restrictive and limit access to abortion in the state. The case is one of more than a dozen lawsuits filed around the country seeking to lift restrictions on... Read More

Abortion

Lawsuit: Drugmaker improperly used charity to pay kickbacks

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a pharmaceutical firm improperly used a charity to pay kickbacks that subsidized Medicare patients’ copayment obligations, allowing the firm to keep raising prices for the drug. The suit filed Wednesday claims the scheme was designed to enable Mallinckrodt to raise the price of Acthar from $50 to $32,000. The... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Drugs, News

Mallinckrodt

Grand jury records on mass lynching once again before court

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court plans to rehear arguments on unsealing the transcripts from grand jury proceedings in the unsolved lynching of two black couples in rural Georgia more than 70 years ago. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said Tuesday that a majority of its judges voted to rehear... Read More

Woman who lifted Arizona mosque items gets probation

PHOENIX (AP) — A woman captured on video making derogatory comments about Muslims as she and a friend lifted Qurans and other items from an Arizona mosque was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation for an aggravated criminal damage conviction. Tahnee Savanna Gonzales was ordered to complete 225 hours of community service and write... Read More

Criminal Justice News, News, Race, Religion

Tahnee Savanna Gonzales

Former head of the CDC pleads guilty to violation

NEW YORK (AP) — The former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct violation related to his arrest last year for alleged sexual misconduct. Dr. Thomas Frieden appeared Tuesday in Brooklyn Criminal Court. Frieden is also a former New York City health commissioner. Frieden was... Read More

Criminal Justice News, Doctors, News, Sexual Abuse

Dr. Thomas Frieden