| Mark Holden wants you to love the Koch brothers Posted:  Holden's become the face of the Kochs' push to reform the criminal justice system, an effort that's made allies out of former enemies and softened the billionaire brothers' image.
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| Live: Jurors see dorm room evidence at Tsarnaev trial Posted: 25 Mar 2015 05:23 AM PDT  This is day 13 of testimony in admitted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's federal death penalty trial in Boston. Prosecutors are expected to continue with additional testimony about evidence found in Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
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| Italy extends Knox courtroom drama to Friday Posted: 25 Mar 2015 08:48 AM PDT  Italy's top court has put back a ruling on Amanda Knox's murder conviction to Friday, delaying what could be the final act of an eight-year legal drama that has captivated a global audience. The court met Wednesday to examine the verdict that found Knox and her ex-lover Raffaele Sollecito guilty of killing British student Meredith Kercher in a case rich with sub-texts of drugs, alleged sexual debauchery and police bungling.
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| Boston bombing jury sees fuse, debris from suspect's apartment Posted: 25 Mar 2015 07:41 AM PDT By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - The Boston Marathon bombing jury on Wednesday saw evidence, including a fuse and a piece from a pressure-cooker lid, seized at the apartment where accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his other brother lived. An FBI special agent described sorting through a debris-filled room that was "like a construction site" during a search of the Tsarnaevs' cramped three-bedroom apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, four days after the deadly 2013 bombing. "It almost looked like a construction site. There were tools in there, lots of debris," said Christopher Derks, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who led the search of the apartment during a massive manhunt for Tsarnaev. |
| Conservative justices press Obama administration on mercury pollution rule Posted: 25 Mar 2015 10:16 AM PDT  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday signaled hostility toward the Obama administration's refusal to consider costs before regulating emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants mainly from coal-fired power plants. Conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, based on questions he asked during a 90-minute oral argument, could be a possible swing vote on the nine-justice court, with its four liberals appearing to back the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rationale for the regulation. The case marks the latest legal test to President Barack Obama's environmental agenda to reach the high court. Under the section of the Clean Air Act in question, the agency can regulate power plants for mercury and other toxic pollutants if it deems it "appropriate and necessary." The provision does not explicitly state whether the EPA was required to include costs in making its decision, and the administration decided it did not have to.
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| Ex-U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. to be released from prison: USA Today Posted: 25 Mar 2015 02:00 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. is set to be released from prison on Thursday to a halfway house in Washington, D.C., after spending roughly half of his 30-month sentence behind bars, USA Today reported. Former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy told the newspaper he spoke with Jackson at an Alabama prison on Monday. Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., had pleaded guilty to misusing about $750,000 in campaign funds on luxuries such as fur capes, celebrity memorabilia, mounted elk heads and a Rolex watch. The judge ordered Sandi Jackson to report to prison 30 days after Jesse Jackson Jr. was released to reduce the impact on their two children.
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| No Netanyahu veto on Iran deal, top senator says Posted:  Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on Tuesday flatly denied that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's influence in Congress means that he could kill a nuclear agreement with Iran.
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| Wisconsin officer, bank robbery suspect killed in shootout Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:26 PM PDT  (Reuters) - A Wisconsin State Patrol officer and a bank robbery suspect were killed in a shootout on Tuesday evening, officials said. The trooper began following a car matching the description of the suspect's vehicle around 5:30 p.m. local time in the city of Fond du Lac before the gun battle, Fond du Lac Police Chief William Lamb told reporters at a brief news conference. Lamb said no other suspects were being sought and that the Wisconsin Department of Justice was leading the investigation. David Matthews, the administrator of the justice department's criminal investigation division, said it was too early to provide additional information about the shooting.
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| White House: U.S. to slow troop withdrawal from Afghanistan Posted: 24 Mar 2015 12:12 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that the U.S. will slow its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, maintaining 9,800 troops in the country through the end of 2015 instead of cutting the number by about half as originally planned.
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