Law

An aerial view of the NSA's Utah Data Center in Bluffdale, Utah. (AP/Rick Bowmer)

Beltway Confidential

Federal judge rules NSA phone collection likely unconstitutional, suggests data may be destroyed

Joel Gehrke · December 16, 2013 5:00 am

The Supreme Court asked the U.S. Solicitor General's office to file a brief on a case regarding whether victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and their families can sue banks accused of having terrorist ties. (AP File)

Supreme Court asks Obama administration for views on Sept. 11 victims case

Sean Lengell · December 16, 2013 5:00 am

Anti-abortion activist and attorney Rebecca Kiessling, center, and others who say they were born as a result of rape, speaks at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on Dec. 3. (AP/David Eggert)

Opponents to target Michigan abortion law in 2014

David Eggert · December 16, 2013 5:00 am

In this March 11, 2004 file photo, James Jenner, of Boston, left, and James Murphy, of Cambridge, Mass. show their support for same-sex marriage in front of the Statehouse in Boston. Several thousand people on both sides of the same-sex marriage issue gathered as state legislators debated a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Itâs been a decade since the highest court in Massachusetts issued its landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage by declaring that barring marriage for gay couples is unconstitutional. Since then, 14 other states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage, with Illinois posed to become the 16th state next week when the governor is expected to sign a gay marriage bill into law. (AP/Steven Senne)

New Jersey lawmakers end push for gay marriage law

Associated Press · December 16, 2013 5:00 am

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announces a child abuse and neglect initiative at the Capitol in Phoenix on Dec. 2. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Arizona judge mulls suit over Jan Brewer’s Medicaid plan

Associated Press · December 14, 2013 5:00 am

National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander, from left, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence General Counsel Robert Litt, testify on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

National Security

White House to keep NSA, cyber oversight together

Associated Press · December 13, 2013 10:30 pm

Changes ordered for college loans for gay couples

Associated Press · December 13, 2013 5:00 am

(AP/Charlie Riedel)

Energy and Environment

Some Kan. lawmakers to fight wind power incentives

Associated Press · December 13, 2013 5:00 am

WILSON, NC - OCTOBER 18: People wait in line to vote at the Board of Elections early voting site on October 18, 2012 in Wilson, North Carolina. Today is the last day to register and the first day to vote for the election in North Carolina. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

North Carolina’s voting law won’t be overturned before election

Washington Examiner · December 13, 2013 5:00 am

Congressmen Want to Bring Obama to Court for Not Faithfully Executing Laws

Daniel Halper · December 12, 2013 6:49 pm

Maxine Doogan of the Erotic Service Providers Union, from left, Rachel West of the US PROStitutes Collective and Kimberly Horiuchi, spokesperson for the ACLU on victim compensation talk before a meeting with others who claim that the California Victims Compensation Board discriminates against sex workers by denying them benefits after having been raped in San Francisco. (AP/Jeff Chiu)

California prostitutes may gain victim compensation

Associated Press · December 12, 2013 5:00 am

An employee of The Clinic, a Denver-based dispensary with several outlets, prepares marijuana joints to be sold, in Denver. (AP/Brennan Linsley)

Legal weed sales will be spotty in Colorado

Associated Press · December 12, 2013 5:00 am