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The good news: an outbreak of salmonella bacteria related sickness last summer was correctly traced to a Beef Packers, Inc., plant in Fresno, CA and a recall of 825,769 pounds of ground beef was put in place. The bad news: at least 39 people in 11 states were sickened with salmonella related infections resistant to several antibiotics. The worse news: the recall did not apply to three batches of beef shipped by Beef Packers for school lunches....

Is it legal for police to read or search through your mail? Your mail is one thing you’d probably prefer the cops not to peek at, but in many cases they can. Still, the Fourth Amendment protects our papers and effects from unlawful search and seizure. That potentially includes some of your most intimate letters and private correspondence, depending on the circumstances. So when is it OK for law-enforcement officers to read or sift through your mail?...

Let’s take a moment to stop and consider what DUI really means. Yes, it means drunk driving. If your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is over the often applied legal limit of .08%, you can be charged with DUI. But the letters actually stand for “driving under the influence” or, in the case of DWI “driving while intoxicated.” Neither of these names indicate that this crime is limited to driving under the influence of just alcohol or controlled substances....

Police in Milledgeville, Ga. are defending an officer’s decision to handcuff a 6-year-old on Tuesday as she threw at major tantrum at Creekside Elementary School. When the officer arrived, kindergartner Salecia Johnson was on the office floor screaming and crying. Just before, the girl reportedly threw a bookshelf at the principal and stomped on a paper shredder. The officer tried to calm her down, but she began fighting with him. At this point, he placed the 6-year-old in handcuffs “for her safety....

Three decades after being convicted of raping murdering an 11-year-old girl in North Carolina, two mentally disabled half-brothers have been declared innocent and ordered released from prison. The two men – one of whom was sentenced to death, the other to life in prison – were convicted based in large part on confessions that the men claimed were coerced and which they immediately recanted, reports The New York Times. What was the new evidence that finally convinced a judge the two men were telling the truth about their innocence?...

‘Tis the season for phishing scams, and this one involves Netflix. Many consumers report receiving an email that looks like it’s from Netflix, but it is in fact a scam trying to get your credit card information. This particular scam has done an excellent job of lifting Netflix logos and screen interfaces to make the emails and linked webpages look like legitimate Netflix pages. Once the victim enters their login and password, they are directed to another page asking for more personal information, including billing and credit card information....

Over 100,000 pounds of frozen hamburger patties and ground beef have been recalled in five states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington), according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service. The recall was initiated voluntarily by Richwood Meat Co., Inc. (of Merced, CA) after three California children were sickened by hamburgers that may have been contaminated with e. Coli. According to the Associated Press, “the recalled products are hamburger patties and ground beef sold under the brands Fireriver, Chef’s Pride, Ritz Food, Blackwood Farms, California Pacific Associates, C&C Distributing, Golbon and Richwood....

Hamas, the Palestinian political group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, apparently has a fairly robust Facebook presence. According to a recent lawsuit filed against the social media leviathan, Hamas leaders, spokesmen, and members maintained official Facebook accounts openly and with little or no interference. That same lawsuit is asking for $10 billion from Facebook, for allegedly providing “material support” to Hamas, who the plaintiffs believe killed their relatives in terrorist attacks in Israel over the past two years....

Two of the most popular prescription heartburn medications on the market do not carry a risk of causing heart problems, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. After completion of a comprehensive review of known safety data for Prilosec and Nexium – including studies provided by manufacturer AstraZeneca PLC – the FDA concludes that long-term use of these drugs is not likely to be associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, heart failure, and heart-related sudden death....

The American opioid crisis is in full swing. On average, there are 115 opioid overdoses in America each day, and that number is rising. In an effort to combat illegal opioid sales, the Federal Drug Administration has directed four online networks, amounting to 21 websites, to stop selling illegal, and “potentially dangerous, unapproved, and misbranded” opioids. The FDA is not only concerned about the legality of these drug sales, but also the safety of the users....

In a letter dated May 26, the FDA laid out serious warnings to pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. over its continued lack of action after patients reported problems with the company’s drugs already on the market. Citing some of Pfizer’s best known products such as Viagra, Lipitor and the seizure medicine Lyrica, the FDA warning stated the drug company had not properly documented or investigated reported problems with its approved medications....

It’s the largest one-time release of federal prisoners in history. In one weekend from October 30th to November 2nd, the Department of Justice will provide early release to about 6,000 prison inmates. So who are these inmates, and why are they being released early? Sentence Restructuring Last year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission amended its rules on drug sentences, and then made those new rules retroactive to prisoners already serving long sentences for drug possession....

Abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was found guilty on three counts of premeditated first-degree murder on Monday, following a five-week trial involving allegations of fetuses being killed after being removed from the womb. Gosnell, 72, who once ran a clinic in West Philadelphia, was also convicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter for the death of an adult female patient. Prosecutors have stated that they will seek the death penalty for the murders, The New York Times reports....

As of Thursday, Jay-Z’s 99 problems no longer include a copyright challenge to his hit song “Big Pimpin.” A panel of judges for the Ninth Circuit have ruled in the rapper’s favor against the relative of an Egyptian composer who claimed “Big Pimpin” looped four measures of an Arabic flute from the composer’s 1957 hit “Khosara.” The panel’s decision included an analysis of Egyptian law regarding economic and moral infringement rights....

Los Angeles City Council officials this week unanimously agreed to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from enforcement of anti-gang injunctions that restricting the movements and associations of innocent city residents. At the center of the deal is a $30 million dollar settlement that will fund job training for gang members, among other projects. The deal is seen as a positive compromise by both sides, according to the Los Angeles Times, funding initiatives for positive change without risking putting money in the hands of gang members....

Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse are being sued for allegedly selling knockoff German knives on the Home Shopping Network. According to the lawsuit, the knives Stewart and Lagasse are hawking are actually made in China, and not the Solingen region in Germany known for its high-quality knife-making, reports Forbes. The celebrity chefs are being sued for trademark infringement by a German trade association that holds the rights to certified Solingen cutlery....

For Mel Gibson, Oksana Grigorieva must have been the biggest mistake of his life–even surpassing the anti-semitic remarks that first wreaked havoc on his Hollywood career. Backed by recordings, Oksana publically alleged that she was assaulted by Mel Gibson; extortion allegations were his main response. After the Mel Gibson/Oksana Grigorieva relationship blew up in the press, Mel’s lawyers alleged that she had tried to extort millions of dollars from the washed up actor....

A number of states rang in 2009 with an increase in the minimum wage many employees must be paid under the law. Effective January 1, 2009, the minimum wage increased in states such as Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. (See the minimum wage rates in every state, current as of January 1, 2009.) A number of other states whose minimum wage standard is tied to the federal rate are scheduled to see an increase from $6....

The lethal injection procedure used by the state of Ohio could cause pain to condemned prisoners, and is therefore unconstitutional, a judge in that state ruled on Tuesday. In issuing the decision, Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge “ordered the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to stop using the drugs that paralyze muscles and stop the heart, and simply administer a lethal dose of an anesthetic,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports....

The Ohio Supreme Court reached a rather controversial decision on Thursday about the Fourth Amendment rights of students on public school grounds. The state’s highest court reversed the two lower courts’ decisions suppressing the evidence that was discovered during three warrantless searches of a student’s backpacks. In short, the Ohio Supreme Court found that schools may conduct warrantless searches of unattended backpacks to identify who the bag belongs to, and ensure the bag does not contain dangerous items or pose a threat to student safety....