A gap in the Illinois law is part of the reason why most sex offenders living in nursing homes aren't listed on state police's online registry.

An investigation by the Chicago Tribune found facility administrators don't have to divulge the identities of sex offenders living in the homes. Instead, the law only requires homes to inform people of the state police online registry, which allows them to search for sex offenders by name (if known), city, county and ZIP code.

A new bill requiring ignition interlock devices for everyone convicted of driving while intoxicated is expected to reach the New York State Governor's desk this week.

The measure has passed the State Assembly and now needs a nod from New York's Senate.

President Barack Obama has drawn criticsm lately not only for his administration's decision to go forward with the New York trial of the professed Sept. 11 mastermind but for his opinion that if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is convicted he will face the death penalty.

Last week in the media, Obama said he is "absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. The American people will insist on it and my administration will insist on it."

Two months after Ohio had to stop a botched execution, the state now has become the first to adopt a new single drug lethal injection protocol.

Ohio, unlike 35 other states that use lethal injection, switched to a single drug, rather than a three drug cocktail in its death penalty procedures, according to the New York Times.

Who gets a civilian versus a military trial and why?

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other alleged plotters of the 911 attack will be tried as terrorists and criminals in a federal court, the US Attorney General announced today.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who along with four other detainees is accused of planning the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen, will go before a military commission.

In addition to wondering what evidence in any of these cases will have to be tossed out due to having been obtained through "enhanced interrogation tactics" that violated international torture laws, many are wondering why some alleged terrorists will be tried in federal court, while others will get a military tribunal.

Maybe a death sentence isn't so bad for the more than six hundred California inmates facing capital punishment.

The state not only has the nation's largest death row population but a wait list with long delays. The appeals process can last decades.

California's DUI laws that allow repeat offenders to get licenses has raised brows for some legislators.

Under state law, drunken drivers have to hurt or kill someone before they permanently have their license revoked.

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday reinstated the death sentence of a Ohio killer convicted of murdering a man he met in a gay bar.

This overturns a decision last year by a federal appeals court in Cincinnati that ruled the lawyers who represented Robert J. Van Hook, 49, during the sentencing phase of his trial in 1985 failed to do an effective job.

California's new law designed to bring much-needed transparency into the process of disclosing information about child deaths falls short of legislators' intent.

The L.A. Times describes how the law known as Senate Bill 39, aimed at allowing public scrutiny of fatal child abuse and child neglect is unevenly enforced and leaves many unaccounted for.

This week Jessica's Law, which was designed to keep convicted sex offenders from living near parks or schools, is coming under review by the California Supreme Court.

The law severely restricts where sexual offenders can live after they are released from prison.  Those convicted of rape or child molestation or even misdemeanor indecent exposure cannot live within 2,000 feet of a school or a park under its provisions.

The state Supreme Court is looking at the cases of four ex-convicts as it considers whether the residency restriction contained in Proposition 83 is so broad and intrusive that it violates the constitutional rights of registered sex offenders, the San Jose Mercury News  reports.