Human Rights

[Encore presentation of Episode 21 from November 19, 2013] In the Western United States, water law is based on what seems like a simple principle: “first in use is first in right.” In other words, first…

No Lawyers Allowed

by Alisa Roth

July 28, 2015

On the afternoon of June 30, 2003, Derrick Hamilton was escorted downstairs to face his fate, at a disciplinary hearing at Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. The hearing officer was Jim Kennedy, a…

Outside The Womb

by Michael Sullivan

July 14, 2015

Couples who want babies but can’t have them naturally are increasingly turning to surrogacy instead of adoption. And in many countries, the business of providing surrogates is big business. Thailand was a popular destination until…

The Trauma Room

by Annie Brown

June 16, 2015

When I met Deborah, she had just come home from a prison in upstate New York. Deborah, which is not her real name, had cycled in and out of prison for nearly 30 years, mostly…

Anatomy of a Confession

by Michael May

March 24, 2015

A triple murder, a habitual liar on a stolen motorcycle and a confession that doesn’t add up.
Why would anyone confess to a crime they didn’t commit? On Life of the Law, the story of a man
dying of cancer on Texas’s Death Row who confessed to a crime he says he didn’t do.

Life of the Law End-of-Year Special: Redemption Stories

by Life of the Law

December 23, 2014

Life of the Law looks back over some of our favorite stories from the year — the ones that left us hopeful.

One Conjugal Visit

by Nancy Mullane

December 2, 2014

How long would your relationship last without a kiss or more than a kiss? In America, only three states allow prisoners and their spouses or domestic partners to have extended family visits, also known as conjugal visits or on the inside, “booty calls.” They have privacy and they have sex. This is the story of one couple and the 48-hour conjugal visit they share once a month inside San Quentin State Prison.

In The Name Of The Father

by Ashley Cleek

October 7, 2014

The Scottsboro Boys are infamous — nine black teenagers falsely accused and convicted of raping two white women. Last year, the state of Alabama finally exonerated all nine. But what does a pardon means 82 years after the fact? And what does forgiveness look like after so many years? Story by Producer Ashley Cleek

Abuse, Abduction and International Law

by Jillian Weinberger

September 8, 2014

What happens when one parent takes a child across international borders without the other parent’s permission? In 1980, the United States and international partners created a treaty that lays out the rules for what federal officials are supposed to do in such cases. Judges are instructed to send children back to their home countries – with very few exceptions. Lawmakers imagined the treaty would usually help left-behind mothers, trying to get their children back from abductor-fathers. Today, more than a quarter of a century after the U.S. implemented the treaty, the standard profiles of abductor and left-behind-parent have shifted dramatically. The majority of the taking parents – the abductors – are women. And most of those women are victims of domestic violence, fleeing their abusers with their children.