Outside the Beltway

The Senate returns tomorrow to try to pass an extension of the PATRIOT Act before it expires, but it may not be able to do so.

The next shoe drops in the Dennis Hastert case.

Another step forward toward ending a U.S. policy regarding Cuba that was outdated twenty years ago.

If a Russian solider dies, it’s now a secret thanks to a new decree signed by the Russian President.

A new poll shows that nearly seven in ten Americans believe that people who are terminally ill should be allowed to end their lives with the help of a doctor.

A woman discharged from the Marine Corps for violating multiple direct orders is fighting to the highest military court.

Despite a veto from the state’s Governor, today Nebraska became the latest state to repeal the death penalty. Hopefully, others will follow.

Several of the top representatives of soccer’s governing body have been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in New York.

The Cleveland Police Department has agreed to submit to significant monitoring in the wake of a damning Justice Department investigation.

The President’s plan to give deportation relief to millions of illegal immigrants has hit another legal snag.

The Supreme Court accepted a case that will require the Justices to decide just what it meant when it established the “one person, one vote” rule for drawing legislative districts.

Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is continuing his absurd and dangerous war on the Supreme Court.

A Cleveland police officer has been acquitted of manslaughter and other charges in a case that resulted in the death of two African-American individuals.

The six Baltimore cops charged in the April death of Freddie Gray have been indicted by a Grand Jury.

Maryland’s former Governor will announce his candidacy for President next week. Don’t expect him to go very far.

A Second Amendment victory in the District of Columbia,

Drip, Drip, Drip.

The largely conservative state of Nebraska seems to be on the verge of repealing its law authorizing capital punishment.

President Obama is taking steps to reduce police militarization, but there’s much more that needs to be done.

Lindsey Graham says that, if elected president, he would summarily kill anyone thinking about joining ISIS.

The gang at The Week are surprised that “Only jurors who were open to the death penalty were chosen for the Tsarnaev trial.”

Final justice, but far from the end of the road.

Fresh off an election victory, British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to propose a series of new measures to crackdown on extremism that raise serious civil liberties concerns.

Hillary Clinton told supporters she’d require Supreme Court nominees to pledge to overturn Citizens United, a decision she completely misrepresented.

The House has passed a bill that would place real restrictions on the National Security Agency’s data mining program. Now, it moves to the Senate.

The first of what is likely to be many defamation suits related to Rolling Stone’s discredited campus rape story has been filed.

As expected, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill that would ban most abortions after twenty weeks. It also happens to be completely unconstitutional and has no chance of actually becoming law.

House Republicans are set to vote on a bill banning abortion in almost all cases after twenty weeks. What they can’t do is explain where the Constitution gives Congress the power to do this.

The Baltimore Police Department will finally be under the Federal microscope. But it took the death of Freddie Gray for it happen.

Two Republican candidates for President say that Republican elected officials should simply ignore the Supreme Court if it strikes down bans on same-sex marriage.

A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the N.S.A.’s data mining program is illegal, but its ruling may not have a very big impact.

Some people in the media can’t seem to get it through their heads that speech they consider hateful is entitled to as much protection as speech that they support.

Two men were killed last night before they could carry out what appears to be a planned attack on an anti-Islam event in Texas.

Two of Chris Christie’s closest aides were indicted in connection with the Birdgegate scandal today, a third plead guilty, and Christie’s Presidential ambitions are pretty much dead.

Big news out of Baltimore and, perhaps, the beginning of justice for Freddie Gray.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are talking about fundamentally changing what it means to be an American, and it’s a bad idea.

In a marked departure from recent cases, the Supreme Court rules that states can impose significant restriction on solicitation of campaign contributions in judicial elections.

A sharply divided Court heard argument today on an issue that has sharply divided the nation.

There is no excuse for last night’s rioting in Baltimore, but that should not deflect attention from the problems with that city’s police.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is insightful and eloquent. He’s wrong in this instance.

Just over a week after a death at the hands of police that remains incredibly suspicious, Baltimore is the sight of violent riots.

Tomorrow promises to be an historic day at the Supreme Court, but it’s been a long legal, political, and social battle.

Ted Cruz and Steve King think the Court should be prevented from hearing any case involving same-sex marriage. Because they know they’re losing.

The former CIA Director received no jail time and a nuisance-level fine in exchange for a guilty plea to espionage charges.