Brain-Damaged Man Wins New Trial In Two-Decades-Old Killing
Richard Lapointe confessed in 1989 that he stabbed, raped and killed his wife's 88-year-old grandmother two years earlier. But in the 23 years since, experts in criminal justice have come to better...
View ArticleDismissed Case Raises Questions On Shaken Baby Diagnosis
When San Francisco prosecutors dismissed charges against Kristian Aspelin in early December, it became just the latest case to raise questions about how shaken baby syndrome is diagnosed. Aspelin, who...
View ArticleKoop Turned Surgeon General's Office Into Mighty Education Platform
Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: C. Everett Koop was the most outspoken and some would argue the most influential of all U.S. surgeon generals. [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: The correct plural form of the...
View ArticleLaw Targets Sexual Violence On College Campuses
When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of...
View ArticleJustice In The Segregated South: A New Look At An Old Killing
This story contains language that some may find offensive.In the segregated South in 1965, John Queen was about as insignificant as a man could be. He was black, elderly and paralyzed. His legs had...
View ArticleCampus Rape Reports Are Up, And Assaults Aren't The Only Reason
The number of "forcible rapes" that get reported at four-year colleges increased 49 percent between 2008 and 2012. That's the finding of an analysis by NPR's Investigative Unit of data from the...
View ArticleUnpaid Court Fees Land The Poor In 21st Century Debtors' Prisons
Debtors' prisons were outlawed in the United States back before the Civil War. But an NPR state-by-state survey found that people still get sent to jail for unpaid court fines and fees. Copyright 2014...
View ArticleCourt Fees Drive Many Poor Defendants Underground
The use of fines and fees charged to criminal defendants has exploded. An NPR investigation has found people who can't afford those charges can go to jail for not paying. Hundreds of thousands are...
View ArticleMichigan's High Court Limits The Fees Billed To Defendants
Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: And I'm Melissa Block. Michigan's top court, today, moved to put limits on what...
View ArticleIn Ferguson, Court Fines And Fees Fuel Anger
To understand some of the distrust of police that has fueled protests in Ferguson, Mo., consider this: In 2013, the municipal court in Ferguson — a city of 21,135 people — issued 32,975 arrest warrants...
View ArticleCan't Pay Your Fines? Your License Could Be Taken
Drive drunk, drive recklessly, and the state can suspend your driver's license. But many police and motor vehicle administrators worry about a recent trend: A large number of suspensions are for...
View ArticleCivil Rights Attorneys Sue Ferguson Over 'Debtors Prisons'
In a new challenge to police practices in Ferguson, Mo., a group of civil rights lawyers is suing the city over the way people are jailed when they fail to pay fines for traffic tickets and other minor...
View ArticleJail Time For Unpaid Court Fines And Fees Can Create Cycle Of Poverty
On a night last week when the temperature dropped to 17 degrees, Edward Brown, who's 62 and homeless, slept at the bus stop in front of the Jennings, Mo., city hall in St. Louis County."It was cold,...
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