Bob CollinsThe Minnesota Supreme Court today ruled again that life without parole for juveniles is not unconstitutional for those who were convicted before 2012 — when the U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Crime and Justice
There was a time, whippersnappers, when we were able to get places on our bikes without a GPS. Sometimes we’d just follow a road in the general direction of where we wanted to go and usually we’d get there.
Unlike where I grew up, this is pretty easy in the Midwest, where the roads run straight north and south and east and west, just as God intended. Read more →
It’s been almost a decade since someone stole the ruby red slippers Judy Garland wore in Wizard of Oz from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids and a search of an iron pit in Itasca County has come up empty. Read more →
Anarchy reigned in Mankato for a short time last week before authorities stepped in to curb the scourge of outdoor dining without enough live plants in the vicinity.
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For Catholics in particular, does the resignation make a difference in how your view the church? Read more →
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in the case of Patience Paye of Waterloo, who was arrested two years ago by police responding to a domestic violence case. She didn’t want her children to be upset, so she stepped onto her front porch to talk to the authorities. She had been arguing with a man who didn’t want her to drive drunk and wouldn’t give her the keys. She also didn’t have a license. Read more →
In Indiana, the First Church of Cannabis will hold its first service the same day Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act goes into effect. Read more →
Zoey, 7, and Andria Green, 8.
Remember those names. We’ll be hearing from them again what with their early start on crime careers and all. Read more →
The Dallas Morning News reports today a 19-year-old African-American woman says racist comments at her party at the community pool started things rolling. Read more →
‘The Baseball Rule is ripe for change,’ Martin Healy, head of the Massachusetts Bar Association, said. ‘The immunity the baseball rule has provided to baseball has to be tossed out.’
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At least in Fergus Falls, pleading with a police officer who stopped you that you’re on your way to the hospital because your wife is in labor won’t work. Read more →
Ryan Larson, the man wrongly accused in the November 2012 killing of Cold Spring police officer Tom Decker, is suing more news media organizations. Read more →
A judge in Grand Rapids, Minn., has ruled that if someone else’s garage sits partially on your property, it’s OK to saw it in half. Read more →
A man in Minneapolis and another in Los Angeles pulled together nuggets of public information to shine a light on those who operate in the darkness. It’s a great story. Read more →