California has been facing severe drought conditions since 2011. Much of the media coverage surrounding the drought has been given over to direct human concerns, such as the folks painting their lawns green (rather than, say, landscaping with native or drought-resistant plants) and water restrictions for residents and farmers. However, lurking in the background, there’s another
In what many view as an attempt to avoid the death penalty, Charleston, South Carolina shooter Dylann Roof, a self-proclaimed white supremacist who confessed to the brutal massacre of nine people at a predominantly black church in June of 2015, has been granted the right to represent himself in court, at his request, by a
A recent report released by the FDA indicates over a dozen hospitals nationwide, including three in Massachusetts alone, have been cited for failing to report patient injuries and deaths due to faulty medical devices. The FDA inspected 17 hospitals over a two-year period as part of an improved attempt to ensure problems such as these
In Part 1, I discussed some recent discoveries, such as a portion of human anatomy that is entirely new to science, a mysteriously dimming star, and the culture of whales. Each of these revelations hints at what we don’t know about our world. But does our ignorance matter when it comes to politics and public
In the United States, we allow all adult citizens to register to vote. Sure, there are some other locally relevant requirements, such as not being a convicted felon or establishing residency. There are also informal (wink wink, nudge nudge) requirements, such as being able and willing to jump through the ridiculous hoops necessary in some
A woman in Indiana has been accused of tampering with her 15-year-old son’s IV while he was undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. The mother, identified as 41-year-old Tiffany Alberts, told authorities she had been injecting her son’s own feces into his system in order to get him moved from
What began as a quick stop at a San Antonio, Texas Walmart to buy an outfit for an annual holiday lighting ceremony quickly turned into a devastating nightmare for the family of Isidro Zarate after the man was shot to death in the store’s parking lot. While circling the lot as his wife went inside,
The late Dr. Amos Wilson is credited with saying, “If you want to understand any problem in America, you need to focus on who profits from that problem, not who suffers from the problem.” That advice will shed a useful light on any number of inequities, among them the Standing Rock Sioux-led protest against the
Happy Thanksgiving, Legal Readers! If you’re reading this waiting for the turkey (or Tofurkey) to cook as you anticipate spending Thanksgiving with a politically diverse family, take heart. You’re not alone; right now a purple America is having that same awkward moment at family gatherings from Newport, Oregon, to Newport News, Virginia. After a bitter
Incoming President-elect Trump certainly has his share of legal troubles to work through, but here’s one I bet he didn’t expect to face: a bunch of kids suing his government over the inevitable effects of climate change. The climate change kids won their right to a day in court recently when US District Judge Ann