law

A Side Benefit of Legal Weed Is the Cops Go Broke

Hamilton Nolan · 01/10/14 01:56PM

The primary benefits of legalizing weed are the end of the horribly racist and unjustifiable imprisonment of thousands of nonviolent Americans, and awkward columns from old white columnists. A good secondary benefit, though: it costs the police money.

America Is Gradually Becoming Less Bloodthirsty

Hamilton Nolan · 12/19/13 11:29AM

America's embrace of the death penalty makes us a gross anomaly in the developed world. The good news is that we seem to be growing less and less fond of it. The newest numbers are (relatively) encouraging.

Does Gun Possession Merit Life Behind Bars?

Hamilton Nolan · 11/25/13 11:34AM

Hundreds of Californians have been jailed for life for felony firearm possession under the state's "Three Strikes" law. Now, the state has reformed the harsh law, and these convicts are asking for reconsideration. Is mere gun possession bad enough to lock someone up forever?

Hamilton Nolan · 11/25/13 09:13AM

Voters in Switzerland this weekend rejected a proposal to limit CEO pay to 12 times that of the lowest-paid worker. An insane idea? "In Germany nearly three quarters would support such pay curbs, according to a poll."

Switzerland's Ideals Put America to Shame

Hamilton Nolan · 11/15/13 11:35AM

In America, the average CEO is paid more than 230 times an average worker's salary. In Switzerland, CEOs are paid 43 times more than the average worker. That figure is so shocking to the Swiss that they want to radically rein it in.

Decriminalized Weed in Brooklyn?

Hamilton Nolan · 10/25/13 08:40AM

The man in line to become the next district attorney in Brooklyn says that he will not prosecute people caught with less than 15 grams of weed, ganja, skunk, cheeba cheeba yall. This could be great for Brooklyn's brand cachet.

How Low an IQ Is Too Low to Be Executed?

Hamilton Nolan · 10/22/13 09:37AM

The Supreme Court is set to review the case of Freddie Lee Hall, a mentally retarded man in Florida who was sentenced to death for participating in a rape, robbery, and two murders. They tackle two main questions: How high an IQ should be necessary for capital punishment? And is IQ measurement even precise enough to be used in cases like this?

Texas Treats Pigs Better Than Prisoners

Hamilton Nolan · 10/18/13 11:52AM

The state of Texas has been the subject of multiple lawsuits over its insistence on killing state prisoners with heat stroke as they sit in jails without air conditioning. It turns out that Texas would not even subject actual swine to the same conditions.

Oops, Voter I.D. Laws Are Discriminatory, Says Judge Who Upheld Them

Tom Scocca · 10/17/13 10:40AM

Richard Posner, the relentlessly rationalist federal judge and legal scholar, has identified an error in his output product, and a fairly important one: In a new book (on his stack of four or five dozen previous titles) and follow-up interviews, he has announced his conclusion that his 2007 decision in Crawford vs. Marion County Election Board, upholding Indiana's then-new voter-identification law, was wrong.

Hamilton Nolan · 10/04/13 11:12AM

In the UK, it is now legal—though it was not yesterday—to sell Nestle chocolate bars in purple wrappers.