Two days ago, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act), "with reservations about key provisions in the law — including a controversial component that would allow the military to indefinitely detain terror suspects, including American citizens arrested in the United States, without charge". [more inside]
posted by stinkycheese on Jan 2, 2012 - 341 comments

How two American kids became big-time weapons traders - "Working with nothing but an Internet connection, a couple of cellphones and a steady supply of weed, the two friends — one with a few college credits, the other a high school dropout — had beaten out Fortune 500 giants like General Dynamics to score the huge arms contract. With a single deal, two stoners from Miami Beach had turned themselves into the least likely merchants of death in history." (via; previously on arms contractors)
posted by kliuless on Mar 21, 2011 - 69 comments

Why do people confess to crimes they don't commit? UVA Law Professor Brandon Garrett has been researching the contamination effect in interrogation. Modern interrogation practices are informed by the (copyrighted) Reid Technique. John R. Reid and Associates, Inc. responds to critics.
posted by availablelight on Oct 4, 2010 - 87 comments

Arguing Three Strikes. A defense lawyer (and co-founder of Stanford's unique Criminal Defense Clinic), and a tough-on-crime Republican D.A. make for unusual allies in the move to reform California's Three Strikes law. [more inside]
posted by availablelight on May 22, 2010 - 53 comments

Student Acquited of Sex Assault - Defense: Sleepwalking. Let the games begin.
posted by yhbc on Jul 8, 2002 - 28 comments

"The last Nazi was there. I shot and killed him. And Hitler was there. I shot and killed him." Is this the Godwin's Law defense? If the trial isn't therefore automatically over, and if Michael McDermott isn't crazy, at least he seems to have started planning his defense for quite a while - his first words when arrested were "I don't speak German".
posted by yhbc on Apr 12, 2002 - 49 comments

"It's really like rape" say lawyers for a college student who sued Arco Media (makers of "Wild Party Girls Video") and won 5 million dollars. From what I was able to find, alcohol was not forced down her throat (she used intoxication as part of her defense) so I am having a difficult time seeing where the "rape" part comes in.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Feb 28, 2002 - 53 comments

There will always be a lawyer. "Internet intoxication"? This is worse than twinkies.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jan 28, 2001 - 7 comments