In December, the American Law Institute voted to drop wording from their law manual instructing states on how to best implement the death penalty. The Institute is now taking a neutral stand on capital punishment in their Model Penal Code, which will no longer provide basic guidelines on who is eligible for execution...

(NNPA) - Much of the research published by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has revealed discrepancies in lending patterns in communities of color, most notably, Latinos and African-Americans. For example, in mortgage lending, CRL was one of the first research organizations to find that many people of color were steered to higher cost, subprime loans, even when they qualified for a lower-cost loan. As a result, today many African-Americans suffer disproportionately from foreclosures.

YORK, Pa. (AP) -- A woman who watched National Guard troops patrol this central Pennsylvania city during racial unrest four decades ago was sworn in Monday as its first Black mayor.

PLAINS, Georgia (AP) -- The mayor of former President Jimmy Carter's hometown said Monday that the city acted immediately to remove an effigy of President Barack Obama that was found hanging from a building...

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Bobby DeLaughter, a former Mississippi prosecutor and judge whose legal conquests became the subject of books and a movie, is set to report to federal prison Monday for lying to the FBI in a judicial bribery investigation...

LOS ANGELES (NNPA) - More than 90 days after her disappearance, Michael Richardson, father of Mitrice Richardson, has announced that he's selling his two custom designed cars in an effort to raise money to independently search for his daughter's whereabouts. Mitrice Richardson, 24, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, mysteriously disappeared following her Sept. 17 predawn release from a sheriff's substation near Malibu where she was booked for allegedly failing to pay a restaurant bill and possession of personal use marijuana.

PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) - When Islamic fascists piloted passenger jets into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, it was a moment that changed how many Americans perceived people of Middle Eastern ethnicity in general and Muslims in particular. Immediately there was a social backlash during which many American Muslims and Middle Eastern immigrants faced resentment where there had been none before.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Stronger regulation should be the first line of defense against excessive speculation that could send the economy into a new crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday. But he didn't rule out higher interest rates to stop that from happening.

GAINESVILLE, Florida (AP) -- A prison guard who acknowledged being a member of white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan has been fired for belonging to a subversive or terrorist organization, a violation of the county agency's code of ethics...

(GIN) - The family of a young Nigerian traveler who allegedly attempted to detonate a powerful explosive while traveling to Detroit from Amsterdam, has issued a statement that provides more details of the alleged conversion of their son to extremist beliefs.