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A Louisiana judge has found the state’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional, but the ruling may be limited to this particular case. Judge Edward Rubin of Louisiana’s 15th Judicial District Court struck down the same-sex marriage ban in a case involving a lesbian couple and their young child. Lafayette’s KATC-TV reports that Angela Marie Costanza and Chasity Shanelle Brewer were legally married in California, but they were having issues getting Costanza recognized as a second parent (Brewer was the biological parent)....

In September, Sean Penn sued Lee Daniels, the co-creator of the TV show Empire for defamation after Daniels named Penn when talking about domestic abuse. Daniels was noting disparities in society’s tolerance for violence in white and black men. Penn was outraged by the mention and argued in his lawsuit that allegations of abuse against him are all false. He said that Daniels harmed his reputation with this statement. Daniels moved to dismiss the defamation case and Penn is firing back, bringing in the big guns, his ex-wife, pop goddess Madonna....

A Sikh professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs was the target of an alleged hate crime near his home in Harlem on Saturday night, when he was attacked by a mob. Some in the group shouted “Get Osama!” Prabhjot Singh, 31, who co-wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times about the Milwaukee Sikh temple shooting, said more than a dozen teens on bicycles called him a “terrorist” before they attacked, according to New York’s WNBC-TV....

He may prefer the stage name “Jonnie Marbles,” but British comedian Jonathan May-Bowles is likely better off adopting a new pseudonym: The Murdoch Pie Thrower. The man, who is responsible for popping media mogul Rupert Murdoch in the face with a shaving cream pie, pled guilty to assault and harassment in front of a British magistrate on Friday, admitting that he directed “threatening, abusive or insulting words and behavior” towards Murdoch....

Why are the Wall Street protestors out on the street? And what is the overall point of the Occupy Wall Street protests? No one seems entirely sure, and in the grand scheme the legality of the protests spreading the country, it doesn’t actually matter. Participants have a Constitutional right to be out there day after day, even if their message gets lost in the crowd. Indeed, the First Amendment guarantees both the freedom of speech and the right to “peaceably assemble....

As technology becomes more sophisticated, the police too are increasingly creative. Michigan authorities, for example, recently commissioned a set of 3D printer fingers to unlock a murder victim’s smart phone. The police believe that the phone holds information about the crime, Fusion reports. Keeping in mind the difficulties of the FBI wrangling with Apple over defendant phone privacy, the Michigan authorities came up with a very creative workaround: copying the victim’s fingers in the hopes of unlocking the phone....

Heroin on its own is deadly enough. But strains of heroin laced with the powerful pain killing drug fentanyl have been hitting the streets of Indianapolis, and have been linked to a spike in fatal overdoses. In some cases, law enforcement has said that dealers are selling straight fentanyl marketed as heroin. So where is the new drug coming from, and how is law enforcement trying to stop its deadly spread?...

Adults know a gun is not a toy but when a Texas custom gun maker modified a Glock to look like a classic video game weapon this month, many critics worried kids would not. The “Nintendo Glock” caused such an uproar that Precision Syndicate was forced to clarify that it was not going to mass produce the firearm made to look like Nintendo’s Duck Hunt Zapper. Most of the negative comments about the gun came from people concerned about children being confused by the guns and police safety and responses as the line between toys and deadly weapons grows finer....

Last week, Samsung announced that it agreed to pay Apple almost $550 million by mid-month to partially settle an iPhone patent infringement lawsuit. The settlement was filed in a California federal court after years of legal jousting between the companies. But the war is not over. Samsung has expressed disappointment over the damages Apple claimed and reserved the right to seek reimbursement, Top Tech News reports. Apple sued Samsung in 2011 and at one point there were reportedly more than 50 intellectual property cases between the two companies pending in courts internationally....

A man accused of running Silk Road 2.0, a revived Internet black market, was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday in San Francisco. Blake Benthall, 26, also known as “Defcon,” is accused of attempting to resurrect the infamous Silk Road, a somewhat-secret website which allowed visitors to purchase anything from illicit drugs to murder-for-hire contracts. According to Ars Technica, the FBI reports that Benthall is facing charges of narcotics trafficking, computer hacking, money laundering, and fraudulent document trafficking, all of which carry weighty prison sentences....

The First Amendment protects an individual’s right to advertise assisted suicide services, according to a unanimous Georgia Supreme Court. The justices came to this conclusion in a suit brought by four members of Final Exit Network, a “death with dignity” advocacy group. The plaintiffs were prosecuted after helping a 58-year-old cancer patient commit suicide. Georgia’s assisted suicide law makes it illegal to publicly offer or advertise suicide assistance. This law was the only means of punishing the plaintiffs, according to the Associated Press....

A federal judge has blocked a key portion of Texas’ new abortion law, striking the provision requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. According to The New York Times, Judge Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court in Austin declared Monday that the Texas abortion law lacked “rational basis and places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion” prior to a viable fetus....

What are the safest driving cities in the country? Insurance carrier Allstate has the answer to that, in a recently released report. The annual “America’s Best Drivers Report” is based on Allstate claims data from 200 cities. The report looks at car crashes to determine which cities in America have the safest drivers. This is based on the number of car collisions and average number of years between collisions, among other factors....

Immediately following the heinous Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando last weekend, many labeled the shooter, Omar Mateen, a terrorist. After all, he allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIL in a 911 call during the attack. It turns out Mateen’s relationship to the club and the gay community in Orlando might be slightly more complex, but does that mean the massacre wasn’t an act of terrorism? The investigation of Mateen’s motives and background is ongoing, but here are five common questions regarding terrorism crimes, here and abroad:...

The judge hearing the case of the so-called “underwear bomber” denied his request in a hearing on October 14. The defendant, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, asked the court that his stand-by attorney not be allowed access to discovery documents handed over by the prosecution in the case. Judge Nancy Edmunds said no. Abdulmutallab is defending himself against charges that he tried to blow a hole in an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, 2009, reports The New York Times....

The White House shooter was sentenced to 25 years in prison for weapons charges and for placing lives in jeopardy. Although Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 23, of Idaho Falls, Idaho was originally charged with attempting to assassinate the president, but the charges were reduced pursuant to a plea bargain, according to Reuters. Ortega-Hernandez’s criminal charges are considered terrorism-related acts. Ortega-Hernandez’s Defense Ortega-Hernandez fired shots at the White House back in 2011 because he was convinced that he was on a mission from God to assassinate President Obama....

This gal isn’t exactly Lorena Bobbitt, but she’s close. Police are still scratching their heads over the case of a Sheboygan, Wisconsin woman who bit off her husband’s tongue during what must have been a very, very unromantic kiss. Karen Lueders is in jail and facing the unusual charge of mayhem. Lueders, 57, attacked her husband, Willard Lueders on the evening of Dec. 6, during what the police now believe to be a manic phase, reports the Sheboygan Press....

Ignition interlock devices have been getting a lot of attention lately. A number of new ignition interlock laws went into effect on the first of the year, and states like Virginia are considering strengthening their existing provisions. The popular devices are used to punish DUI offenders, and are wired to a vehicle’s ignition. Drivers can’t start the car without first providing a breath sample. They are then periodically retested so as to confirm that they remain sober....

Calling it a “close call,” a federal judge on Wednesday allowed victims to pursue wrongful death and liability claims against Cinemark, which owns the Colorado movie theater where 12 people were shot to death last summer. U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson indicated that it wasn’t an easy decision but said the 10 lawsuits pose questions of interpretation and application of law. “I suspect that many people, despite overwhelming sympathy and grief for the victims of the Aurora theater shootings, might upon hearing about these lawsuits have had reactions like, ‘How could a theater be expected to prevent something like this?...

If you’ve been paroled out of jail, or are on probation trying to avoid jail, the last thing you probably want to see is law enforcement at your front door. Often officers want to search your home, and they don’t always have a warrant. But do they need one? Or can law enforcement just search your home if you’re on parole or probation? Entrance Normally, the Fourth Amendment requires law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before they can search a home....