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Friday is the 20th anniversary of a law that created mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine crimes. The rules mandated far harsher sentences for people caught with crack cocaine than for those caught with powdered cocaine. Many say the sentencing disparity is unfair.

The Supreme Court produces a split decision over the protection of wetlands areas. The justices decided 5-4 that regulators may have misinterpreted the federal Clean Water Act when they refused to allow two Michigan property owners to build on wetlands they own.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a revised $85 billion budget Tuesday that he said contained "the good, the bad and the ugly," including additional cuts to child welfare programs, health care for the poor and AIDS prevention efforts.

In northern Pakistan, a deal is in the works to end the war in the Swat Valley, once a vacation destination now largely in the hands of the Taliban. The Taliban in the area unilaterally declared a ten-day ceasefire in the Swat Valley after the provincial government in northwest Pakistan and Islamist militants reached an agreement in which Islamic judicial practices will be enforced in part of the northwest.

The battle over the Mount Soledad Cross entered a new phase Friday. The attorney who's fighting to have the Cross removed as a constitutional violation filed a brand new lawsuit. The suit aims to void

A bankruptcy judge will decide by Monday whether to proceed with civil trials in at least 40 sex-abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. Lawyers representing 150 people who claim

Chicago fast food tycoon and political fundraiser Antoin Rezko goes to trial this week on corruption charges. Rezko gave money to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, along with several other state politicians. Pundits wonder how that will affect Obama's campaign, if at all.

The blandly named Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility is huge, squatting over some 700 acres of Otay Mesa about twenty minutes south and east of KPBS and a stone’s throw from the colonias and maquilidoras of Tijuana. After visiting the prison, producer Pat Finn wrote this essay about her impressions.

How can local and regional governments overcome the massive debts they've been facing lately? Many are turning to the municipal bond market as a way to bring in additional revenue. We'll speak to a former municipal bond trader about how the financial instruments are used, and to discuss what's happening with the bond market right now.

A federal judge has overturned a Maryland law that would have required Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care. The state law would have required non-governmental employers with 10,000 or more workers to spend at least 8 percent of payroll on health care or pay the difference in taxes.