NPR: Justice Talking Podcast

The movie rating industry has initiated some reforms following charges by filmmakers that the system is arbitrary and unfair. But skeptics on both sides of the issue say troubling content in movies, television and music is not being handled ...

The movie rating industry has initiated some reforms following charges by filmmakers that the system is arbitrary and unfair. But skeptics on both sides of the issue say troubling content in movies, television and music is not being handled ...

The college admissions process has changed significantly in recent years, particularly for students seeking to get into the nation's most elite universities. Should these schools' admissions policies favor athletes and children of alumni? Should ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has struggled over the years to define where the First Amendment ends and obscenity begins. The pressure to answer that question is intensifying as pornography moves onto the Internet and as public concerns increase about child ...

With health care at the top of the domestic policy agenda and the presidential candidates stumping on the issue all across the nation, Justice Talking takes a look at how health care is being handled, from Massachusetts to California. Why has a program ...

In every election year, questions arise about the fairness of the voting process. This edition of Justice Talking will take a detailed look at some of the key issues: from the debate over requiring ID to cast a ballot to the controversy over electronic ...

More than a dozen states are at loggerheads with the federal government over the warrantless wiretapping program. Strong divisions are formed over the question of offering immunity to the telecommunications industry for its role in the surveillance ...

Several years ago Chicago Mayor Richard Daley made headlines as he pushed to ease the penalties for use of small amounts of marijuana. He advocated fining offenders $250 to $1,000 rather than imposing jail terms. Although it remains a federal crime to ...

As murder rates increase in a number of large cities, police are implementing a host of new measures aimed at reducing crime: cameras in high-crime areas, automatic scanners that run ID checks on every automobile that passes by a police cruiser, ...

An unprecedented drought throughout the nation's Southeast has forced some of the region's largest cities to declare water emergencies. Western states have been dealing with similar water shortages for a much longer time. But what can policy-makers do ...

Last term, in , the U.S. Supreme Court decided that women who sue for pay discrimination must file a claim against their employers within 180 days of the first time the pay disparity occurs, even if the discriminatory treatment continues for years ...

The issue of immigration has been a flashpoint in the Presidential debates. Border fences, identification for illegal immigrants, and other reforms have all been debated. And Mitt Romney has been in the hot seat because some say he didn't act fast enough ...

In mid-December, the Federal Communications Commission approved new rules that affect ownership of the nation's media companies. One rule change gave newspaper owners more leeway to buy radio and television stations in their markets. On this edition of ...

Some lawyers are using brain scans showing defects to argue that their clients aren't responsible for criminal behavior. In recent years, this neuroscientific evidence has been increasingly used in our courtrooms. But some scientists argue that the ...

State laws permit the involuntary commitment of people suffering from mental illness if they are a danger to themselves or others. But how do these commitment laws work in practice? Do laws aimed at protecting patients' rights prevent people from getting ...

Federal and state funding programs provide local groups with millions of dollars for "abstinence-only-until-marriage" education programs that are hailed by some as the best way to keep teenagers from having sex and to stop teen pregnancy. But ...

In 1967, 15-year-old Gerald Gault was sentenced to six years in prison for making a lewd phone call, without written notice of the charges, witnesses, or an attorney. In its landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles accused of crimes ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has struggled over the years to define where the First Amendment ends and obscenity begins. The pressure to answer that question is intensifying as pornography moves onto the Internet and as public concerns increase about child ...

Several high-profile court cases around the country are raising racial tensions. Some human rights organizations say the example of the Jena 6, the story of Martin Lee Anderson and other cases show how a range of policies are working together to unfairly ...