More than 2,000 inmates and ex-cons have been exonerated since 1989, according to the database that aims to track all wrongful convictions in the United States. More than 100 had been sentenced to death.

"This is a beginning," said University of Michigan Law School professor Samuel Gross, one of the database's creators. "One of my great hopes is that this will lead us to learn more about exonerations."

A former New Hampshire state trooper who claimed he was held against his will by one of his supervisors has been awarded $1.5 million in damages.A jury ruled Friday that James Conrad was falsely imprisoned by superior officers after a physical altercation in the hallway of the Department of Safety in November 2007.

Yes, you read that right — the latest casualty of our War on Drugs is a grandmother who never even touched the drugs that sent her to prison. Though she may not look like public enemy No. 1, our persistently illogical criminal justice system has determined that this harsh punishment fits her crime. The truth, though, is that her fate was sealed, in large part because she didn't have a card to play when negotiating her sentence.

(Extra info: Houston Chronicle link: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Drug-crime-sends-first-t...)

Earlier this week, the federal government announced that the Air Force might be dispatching drones to a backyard near you. The stated purpose of these spies in the sky is to assist local police to find missing persons or kidnap victims, or to chase bad guys.......