Ari Shapiro archive
Around the Nation
Do Long Island Police Ignore Hate Crimes?

November 19, 2009 With the Latino population booming in Suffolk County, N.Y., so is anti-immigrant sentiment. Illegal immigrants see a rise in the kind of violence that took Rosario Lucero's son, but often won't report it for fear of the police and deportation. Now the Justice Department is probing whether local police are turning a blind eye.
Around the Nation
Flood Of Immigrants To Long Island Sparks Tension
November 19, 2009 People born and raised in Suffolk County, N.Y., complain about dozens of people living in single-family homes; immigrants complain that they are victimized by locals. An Ecuadorean day laborer was murdered last year, allegedly by teenagers who said they regularly looked for immigrants to bash.
Law
Obama Set To Sign Bill Widening Hate Crime Laws

October 28, 2009 Wednesday afternoon, President Obama will sign a new hate crimes bill into law, extending the definition of federal hate crimes to include attacks against people based on disability, sexual orientation or gender identity. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress initially passed in 1968.
National Security
Capture Or Kill? Lawyers Eye Options For Terrorists
October 8, 2009 Government lawyers are trying to decide where to detain people captured overseas in the future. No matter where the detainees are held, there are military, diplomatic, legal and political obstacles. Now the administration is thinking creatively for a Plan C.
National Security
Officials Seek Plan C For Housing Terrorists
October 8, 2009 As the Obama administration moves toward closing Guantanamo, the question becomes: Where will the U.S. hold terrorists captured overseas? There are political hurdles to holding them in the U.S., but foreign countries may not want them either.
Law
Obama Toughens State Secrets Privilege
September 23, 2009 Under new rules, the government must convince the attorney general that releasing information would cause "significant harm" to national security. The rules are a break with the Bush administration, but officials are pushing to extend other Bush-era security policies.
Afghanistan
Rights Groups Decry U.S. Stand On Bagram Detainees
September 15, 2009 The Obama administration has filed court briefs arguing that detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan are not entitled to the same legal rights as those at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. That disappoints human rights groups, who had hoped the new administration would break with the legal arguments of President Bush.
Law
Are Ex-Bush Officials Liable For Post-Sept. 11 Acts?

September 15, 2009 The legal justifications used by Bush administration officials to detain people after the Sept. 11 attacks remain controversial and legally murky. Some former detainees are seeking to hold former officials personally accountable through civil lawsuits, with mixed results.
Law
Congress Probes Science Behind Convictions
September 9, 2009 A recent study questions the scientific validity of many forensic techniques routinely used in criminal prosecutions. Lawmakers at a Senate hearing on Wednesday asked whether people have been put to death for crimes they didn't commit based on these techniques.
