Legal

It may be the most famous sound in the world that almost never actually happens. The sharp bang of a…

Three words, three very different legal endings. A man is “acquitted.” Another is “discharged.” A third has his case “dismissed.”…

If criminal justice were a courtroom drama, every case would end with a jury verdict. In real life, almost nothing…

When a judge sentences a criminal, most people imagine the judge weighing the evidence, hearing about the person’s background, and…

Three prisoners. Three headlines. Three completely different futures. One man is serving “life imprisonment,” another “natural life,” and a third…

News reports use the words bail, bond, and surety as if they mean the same thing. They do not. One…

When someone is convicted of more than one crime, a common question follows. If they receive two five-year sentences, do…

If someone spends six months in jail waiting for their trial, and is then sentenced to two years in prison,…

A suspended sentence is one of the most misunderstood outcomes in criminal courts. When people hear that an offender “walked…

Free will is one of the oldest questions in human thought. It sits at the center of how we judge…