Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday requiring trial judges to tell jurors that existing bans on conducting their own research about the case, or talking to outsiders about it, applies to electronic and wireless communication. Violations by jury members will be punishable by up to six months in jail for criminal contempt.

A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen said Wednesday he was only doing it as a hobby. The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove. Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden's Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.

Google only gave the Brazilian government information in 76% of the 1,804 cases in which the country requested it, and for only 72% of the U.K.’s 1,162 requests. It took an even stronger line against countries like Poland, Hungary and Turkey, giving over data in only 33 times out of the 272 in which Poland requested it, and in none of the 45 Turkish or 68 Hungarian requests.

A principal in an Iowa elementary school spanks kids on their birthday- these "whammies" are supposed to be a cute tradition but one parent sees it as training his child to be subservient to authority.

New York state lawmakers are advancing a bill that would create an "educational reform program" for teenagers who get in trouble for creating and sharing pornographic images of minors. The program, proposed by Assembly Democrats, is intended to give prosecutors and judges a more lenient option for dealing with teenagers accused of "sexting," using their cellphones, email or social-networking sites to distribute naked and sexually explicit pictures of themselves or classmates.

When fifth-grader Isaiah Butts’ inhaler fell out of his pocket at school, he received an in-school suspension, a penalty his mother says suffocates common sense and could put other children at risk.

My family and I recently moved to West Michigan and I just got this letter in the mail. The letter is signed by a handful of local big-shots and law enforcement types. I was more than a little put off by the tone and rhetoric contained in this thinly veiled THREAT to my freedom and property. Not only are they all but promising to separate me from my property and limit my freedoms, but they had the balls to also ask me to sign a "pledge" saying I will obey. The blank pledge card, front and back, is part of the PDF.

The Obama administration laid out plans Monday to work aggressively with other nations to monitor the Internet, enable censorship and ensure that citizens everywhere are prosecuted for criticizing governments.

A new bill on Beacon Hill would ban parents from engaging in sexual relationships within the home until their divorces are final.

Several U.S. states have started reassessing their medical marijuana laws after stern warnings from the federal government that everyone from licensed growers to regulators could be subjected to prosecution. The Department of Justice said two years ago that it would be an inefficient use of funds to target people who are in clear compliance with state law. But U.S. attorneys have said in their recent memos that they would consider civil or criminal penalties for those who run large-scale operations — even if they are acceptable under state law.