Bad Constitution

With more than 300,000 words and over 800 amendments, Alabama’s Constitution is 40 times longer than the US Constitution, and holds the record for being the longest active constitution in the world. Originally written in 1901 by men seeking to establish the law of white supremacy in the state, the constitution still requires racially segregated schools and outlaws interracial marriage, laws that have been nullified by the United States Supreme Court.

Release Day

For eighteen years, California’s three strikes law leveled harsh penalties against repeat felons: anyone with two felony convictions received 25 years to life for committing a third felony. In 2012, Californians voted to change the three strikes law, allowing some of the prisoners sentenced under it to petition for release for time served. Curtis Penn is one of those prisoners. Life of the Law executive producer Nancy Mullane chronicles the day Curtis was released from prison.

A Criminal Debt

It’s not unusual at all to leave prison anywhere across the country owing fees, fines, or other costs to the local court. The city of Philadelphia alone is trying to collect some $1.5 billion in judicial debt owed back to days of the Nixon Administration. But should courts try to collect from a population, ex-inmates, who have 70 percent unemployment rate?

Forensics in Flames

Over the past 20 years, there’s been a revolution in the science of arson investigations. Many of the clues that had been used for decades to determine that a fire was not accidental, especially the analysis of burn patterns on walls and floors, have been proven to be false. Texas is one state that is re-examining arson convictions that may have been based on junk science.

Call NOW!

When things go bad, all you need to do is pick up the phone and CALL. Or so
the late-night ads on basic cable tell us. Since the US Supreme Court allowed
lawyers to advertise in the 1970s, the practice has skyrocketed, with often
shoddily-produced results. Are tacky lawyer ads bringing down the profession
or simply making it more accessible to those who might not otherwise know
an attorney?

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