By: David Gelles, Hiroko Tabuchi and Matthew Dolansept, Source: The New York Times. Shwetak N. Patel looked over the 2013 Mercedes C300 and saw not a sporty all-wheel-drive sedan, but a bundle of technology. There were the obvious features, like a roadside assistance service that communicates to a satellite. But Dr. Patel, a computer science

Judge rules that Birmingham police violated the constitutional rights of students by using excessive force for minor discipline problems, such as “backtalking” and “challenging authority.” Source: SPLC. A federal judge in Alabama has found that the Birmingham Police Department violated the constitutional rights of students in public schools by using pepper spray to deal with

By: Natasha Geiling, Source: Think Progress. A controversial Wyoming law is under legal fire after a broad coalition of environmental, justice, and animal rights groups filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday. The law, known as Senate File 12, or the Data Trespass Law, makes it illegal for anyone to collect data on public or

By: Thomas Frank, Source: USA Today. The U.S. government has drastically understated the number of people killed in high-speed police car chases, potentially by thousands of fatalities over several decades, a USA TODAY investigation shows. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administrationoverlooked at least 101 motor-vehicle deaths in 2013 that were related to a police chase, according to a

A trade group, backed by oil and chemical giants, denied it was behind a campaign to block regulations of potentially toxic flame retardants. But an insider has finally come clean. By: David Heath, Center for Public Integrity; Source: The Daily Beast.The chemical industry’s powerful trade group, the American Chemistry Council, has long maintained that it had nothing

Source. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law on Tuesday a measure that blocks local ordinances against hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” The move is in response to a fracking ban passed by voters in November in the town of Denton. “This law ensures that Texas avoids a patchwork quilt of regulations that differ from