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It seems like every day we’re hearing news of criminal defendants, some of them on death row awaiting execution, being exonerated by DNA evidence or otherwise having their convictions overturned. Often, they have spent decades in jail, all for crimes they did not commit. Beyond the moral and legal obligations to have a criminal justice system that doesn’t incarcerate innocent people, there are financial reasons to make sure only guilty parties are convicted and go to jail....

A Nevada sheriff is taking flak for his practice of stopping suspected drug runners on a rural stretch of Interstate 80 and confiscating their cash. Humboldt County Sheriff Ed Kilgore assured skeptics that the drug stops were not illegal shakedowns but lawful civil forfeitures, reports The Associated Press. Are these I-80 stop-and-seizures in step with the law? Two men have filed lawsuits against Humboldt County in federal court, alleging that deputies made illegal searches and seizures when stopping vehicles along I-80 near Winnemucca, Nevada, reports the AP....

George Clooney is at the center of a hot dispute between two coffee makers in Israel. Nespresso Israel is suing the Israeli Espresso Club for using a Clooney look-alike in ads. Nespresso’s got the genuine article, the actor himself peddling its wares. Nespresso sued the Espresso Club for its ads showing a Clooney clone learning the advantages of membership in the Club, a wink at the original Nespresso ad. The Coffee Club says its ads are a parody, and therefore fair use, and they do bear a disclaimer....

In a closely watched court decision, a federal judge ruled that a Pennsylvania school district’s policy of teaching an ‘intelligent design’ (“ID”)theory of biology was unconstitutional. The U.S. District Court judge held that concluded that local school board officials, “who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy.” If the decision is appealed, the legal debate over teaching alternatives to evolution in public schools could go all the way the the U....

60 Minutes aired an episode on its investigation into Lumber Liquidators earlier this month. The show claims that it found toxic amounts of formaldehyde that did not meet health and safety standards. Lumber Liquidators is the largest retailer of hardwood and laminate flooring in North America. Every year more than 100 million square feet of its flooring are installed into American homes. 60 Minutes alleges that the flooring, which is made in China, may contain unsafe levels of formaldehyde....

March Madness tipped off today, but the full court press against alleged infringers of NCAA trademarks started long ago. The LA Times reports that according to lawyers for the NCAA, the economic downturn and increased internet options have resulted in more people trying to turn a buck off the NCAA’s trademarks. These trademarks include March Madness, The Big Dance, Elite Eight, Final Four, and a slew of others. Some of these phrases had long histories prior to NCAA use....

Oregon legalized recreational marijuana back in 2015. But what about other Schedule 1 narcotics like cocaine, meth, or LSD? While the Beaver State isn’t planning on legalizing those any time soon, it is rolling back the penalties for their possession. A new state law will downgrade first-time drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, so long as the amount is under a certain limit. So to which drugs does the new law apply?...

The New York Police Department announced that it has seized over 3,000 guns so far this year, and over 1,000 of those will remain off the streets for good. The NYPD says its Field Intelligence Officers’ haul is the highest in the last three years. So what happens with all those weapons now? According to the New York Daily News, the police used to dump seized guns in the Long Island Sound, but Deputy Commissioner for Support Services Robert Martinez says the department now takes the weapons to an “undisclosed location, to either be melted down or “stamped into oblivion....

Essure, once sold worldwide as an effective and safe form of permanent birth control, has seen its own product life stunted. Bayer Pharmaceuticals announced that it will pull Essure from the U.S. market, the last to sell the device, by year’s end. A “Safe” Alternative to Tying Tubes? Essure was launched as the first non-surgical alternative to permanently prevent conception. With placement of the two-inch long nickel alloy device taking just minutes in a doctor’s office, Essure was both cost and time effective, compared to tubal ligation surgery....

Search warrants used to gather evidence against actress Sandra Bullock’s alleged stalker have revealed that the actress came face-to-face with a man police say is “obsessive and fixated” on Bullock inside her own home. Joshua James Corbett, 39, is being charged with 19 felonies, including stalking charges, in connection with breaking into Bullock’s Hollywood Hills mansion last month, reports the Los Angeles Times. The charges also include gun charges, after a subsequent search of Corbett’s home turned up a stash of illegal weapons including several automatic rifles....

Minimum wage increases took effect in a number of states on January 1st, including California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon. (Check out the current minimum wage in your state, as of January 1, 2008) A number of states increase minimum wage annually under a formula that includes factors such as inflation and the cost of living. In other states, laws passed in 2007 mandate that a specific increase in minimum wage take effect on January 1, 2008....

Anemia drugs like Aranesp and Procrit can increase the risk of death and blood clots, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). These drugs, called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), are used in treatment of chemotherapy-associated anemia in certain cancer patients. The study, which looked at 89 clinical trials, found a 10 percent increase in risk of death and a 57 percent increase in risk of blood clotting (called venous thromboembolism) in patients being treated with ESAs....

A teenager has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the grisly murder of a disabled Chicago man – a beating that was caught on cell phone video and posted on Facebook. Anthony Malcolm, 19, recorded and uploaded to Facebook the beating death of Delfino Mora, 62, who was in an alley collecting cans. Malcolm and two friends targeted the disabled father of 12 in a game they called “Pick ’em out, knock ’em out,” Chicago’s WGN-TV reports....

A short-lived rap career may have come to an end last week, as a Massachusetts high school student was arrested for making terrorist threats in a Facebook post. Cameron D’Ambrosio, who calls himself “CammyDee” online, was arrested after a student at Methuen High School noticed D’Ambrosio posted threats to “kill people” on Facebook, reports The Valley Patriot. D’Ambrosio now faces serious criminal charges. Under Massachusetts law, anyone who communicates a threat via the Internet that causes “serious public inconvenience or alarm” can be punished by up to 20 years in prison....

From tickets to incarceration, the consequences for texting and driving can costly. A growing number of states, counties, and municipalities are enacting “distracted driving” laws that categorically ban texting while driving. Even in states without explicit laws, behind-the-wheel texting can lead to negligent and reckless driving charges, giving every driver good reason to keep their hands on the wheel and off their phones. Here are five potential consequences for texting and driving:...

Toyota is slated to pay $1.2 billion to resolve a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice over safety issues. The car manufacturer admitted it concealed and misled consumers regarding safety defects in its vehicles, two of which caused unintended acceleration, reports Reuters. The acceleration defect was blamed for the deaths of a California Highway Patrol officer and his family – allegedly caused by unintended acceleration in his Lexus....

We’re all for creative sentencing, but having Willie Nelson in your courtroom shouldn’t be an excuse to make him sing your favorite song, should it? Yet that’s exactly what a star-struck Texas prosecutor has proposed with Willie Nelson’s most recent pot bust. Nelson was accused of possessing 6 ounces of marijuana, but when the packaging was removed, the weight was 3 ounces, making it a misdemeanor, Bramblett told the Daily Mail....

With Alicia’s painstaking back-and-forth regarding whether or not to run for state’s attorney finally decided, “Shiny Objects” should feel like a payoff episode. Unfortunately, the episode spends much of its time dabbling in uncharacteristically low-grade courtroom drama before being rescued by some last-minute fireworks courtesy of Juliana Margulies’ Alicia and her estranged husband Peter, played by Chris Noth. Episode Recap (Spoiler Alert!): “Shiny Objects” features the return of the eccentric Elsbeth Tascioni, facing off against Alicia in a case involving a corporate CEO who claims she was wrongfully terminated because of her gender....

Akon has filed paternity documents in a Georgia court claiming he is the father of two children born out of wedlock. In a refreshing twist, the rapper/singer is actually fighting to be named the father of the children instead of trying to avoid the responsibilities (and expenses) that come with fathering a child. In fact, Akon is even asking that a court consider his high income in determining how much child support he’ll have to pay, reports TMZ....

As a rule of thumb, it has been recommend that parents discard children’s car seats that are over 6 years old. Consumer Reports Safety Blog reports that an upcoming product recall by Dorel will reinforce this rule. CR writes that next week, Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) will announce a product recall of more than four million Cosco and Eddie Bauer car seats. The models affected are Cosco Alpha/Omega, Touriva and Hi Back and Eddie Bauer Touriva and Hi Back car seats....