Because I have way too many browser tabs open. Mexican drug lord hit men dress up like a SWAT team to carry out an execution in Phoenix. The rest of the story is just damned scary. But remember, the violence means we’re winning! Photos of a long-shuttered child development center in Maryland. ...

Literal treatment of Billy Idol’s “White Wedding.” Median home price in Detroit falls to $7,500. No, that isn’t a typo. It’s a deal! Ryan Grim has more on Eric Holder and medical marijuana raids. The Wire’s creator and former Baltimore Sun crime reporter David Sim...

Someone in a comments thread below linked to this thread on a police site, which began shortly after the botched raid on the home of Berwyn Heights, Maryland Mayor Cheye Calvo last summer. Some of the responses are . . . disturbing. I blame gay marriage! I acutally have no idea what’s going on...

British authorities remove kids from parents because of one boy’s leg fractures that “could only have been caused by physical abuse.” Child later determined to have rare form of scurvy; no abuse. Court says, “Oops. Sorry. But it’s too late. We already gave your kids to ...

Surprising even a judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a lawyer for the Obama administration embraced the Bush administration’s position in the first state secrets case since Obama took power. The case involves five accused terrorist detainees who are attempting to sue a s...

The Reason.tv video Mississippi Drug War Blues: The Case of Cory Maye took top prize in the Best Documentary Short category at the Oxford Film Fest. Congratulations to Paul Feine, Roger Richards, and Dan Hayes for their hard work. And of course, props to Drew Carey for making the video possible. You...

A forthcoming study from the National Academy of Sciences is expected to send shockwaves through the criminal justice system. People who have seen it say it is a sweeping critique of many forensic methods that the police and prosecutors rely on, including fingerprinting, firearms identification and ...

Inside the mind of a puppycide offender. I don’t know, it’s hard for me to get too worked up over people clamoring for their right to not care about sex. Isn’t it just a matter of not caring? Supreme Court to hear case of honor student strip-searched for suspicion of possessing ibu...

If it doesn’t, I guess there’s always Viagra. The Republican Party’s quest for permanent minority status continues apace. So if I understand this correctly, they’re protecting these kids from harm . . . by charging them with child pornography for exploiting themselves. Yes. M...

Bruce Mirken sends this summary of items seized by various DOJ agencies in 2008 that have been “placed into official use.” The FBI apparently found official uses for $120,000 in seized jewelry and $134 in pornography. Weirder, the U.S. Postal Service apparently found an “official u...