Law News Archives

For Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, steering the bill to passage will depend on finding ways to finesse controversial provisions within the measure.

The Rev. Al Sharpton's daughter told a police officer in a profanity-laden rant that she cut him off in traffic because she was in a rush to get to a theater, prosecutors said Monday.

Six Massachusetts hospitals are suing the state, saying they were shortchanged by the 2006 health care law.

The Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh has said he is "not going to stand in judgement#" on the Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray.

After the significant popularity of the federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" program this past summer, buzz began immediately about another federal stimulus rebate program that could knock down the price on big ticket items: Dollars for Dishwashers.

California has received $60 million from the federal stimulus package to upgrade its 23-year-old unemployment benefits system even though previous federal funding to improve the same system has not been fully spent.

A man with an extensive criminal past - including a lengthy prison sentence commuted by former Arkansas Gov.

Unable to get the Legislature to agree on how to address a $3.2 billion deficit, New York Gov.

Sen. Maria Cantwell wants to use state gambling laws to regulate parts of Wall Street, saying someone needs to police financial markets where "casino capitalism" involving highly speculative trades she likens to sophisticated betting continue unabated and threaten to create yet another financial crisis.

The managers of the Belle of Cincinnati riverboat want to go green. Newport-based BB Riverboats is seeking a $500,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant to retrofit its flagship Belle of Cincinnati with three new, more efficient electric generators.

Prime-time television took on a different meaning when the U.S. Senate met in a rare Saturday night session this past weekend to move along the health care reform debate in this country.

Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen said on Saturday it was shocking and disturbing that three decades of horrific child abuse was hidden by the Catholic hierarchy in Dublin.

Hundreds of criminal cases fail to make it to court because of paperwork delays and other problems in the justice system, it has been revealed.

A little girl who trembled in her house as a National Guard tank rumbled past during York's chaotic 1969 race riots has grown up to become the first black mayor of the central Pennsylvania city.

Domestic violence experts say that most victims usually recant after reporting their partners committed the abuse.

Vermont Department of Labor officials say they've begun notifying some people receiving jobless benefits that they could be eligible for more.

An eastern Iowa man has been arrested after he allegedly hit his girlfriend with branches from a Christmas tree.

A Springfield man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for dousing his wife with gasoline and setting her on fire while she slept.

Workers who want to report they've been underpaid or mistreated on the job are getting stronger protection against retaliation by their employers under a new state law that goes into effect this week.

The Alberta government and local police are targeting dial-a-doper drug operations in Edmonton under a new law that allows the province to seize criminal property and disrupt gang business, Alberta's Justice Minister Alison Redford said Thursday.

This undated photo provided by Jim Sitton via WPTV shows Makayla Sitton, 6. Four people including a child in bed were shot to death during a family Thanksgiving gathering Thursday night, Nov.

Reporting from London - Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Dublin engaged in a widespread cover-up of abuses by clergy members for decades, a "scandal on an astonishing scale" that even saw officials taking out insurance policies to protect dioceses against future claims by the victims, a commission reported Thursday after a three-year ...

I knew him prior.Those four words uttered recently by a police detective in front of a jury prompted a Jackson County judge Wednesday to dismiss the murder case against a Kansas City man.The dismissal with prejudice means that prosecutors cannot re-try Markus D. Lee for the 2007 drive-by killing of Eliseo Thomas.

Shaquille O'Neal gets the 2009 Thanksgiving award for quietly paying for the funeral of a little girl he never met.

He pleaded guilty to outraging public decency at an earlier hearing and had been warned that he could be sent to prison after shocking images of him soaking a poppy wreath following the drinking session in Sheffield city centre were published.

Counsellors are bracing themselves for an onslaught of crisis calls after the latest horrific revelations of a Catholic Church cover-up of clerical sex abuse.

The Obama administration pushed back Wednesday against claims that it's not doing enough to slow the growth of health care costs, a topic that senators will debate heavily in coming weeks.

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered The Reserve Primary Fund, which last year roiled the $3 trillion money-market industry by "breaking the buck," to pay out its remaining assets to shareholders waiting to get their money back.

A Nebraska man who told a judge he fled with his wife and children into the South Dakota wilderness to avoid Nebraska authorities has been sentenced to three years in prison for stealing a fire truck.

A man who has won repeated delays in his trial for the 2002 dismemberment slayings of a teenage couple in East Tennessee must defend himself in the death penalty case, after the state's high court denied his application to appeal.

A Tea couple is accused of using their home as a base for an underage sex trafficking operation.

ALBANY - Legislative leaders said Tuesday that their staff would work over the weekend to digest a revised proposal from Gov.

The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its crackdown on coal pollution with a new plan to cut sulfur dioxide - a move that would clean up the air for millions of Americans and bring some relief to people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases.

It was like going back to the future for Florida utility regulators Tuesday as consumer advocates urged a ban on most off-the-record communications as recommended by a statewide grand jury 18 years ago.

The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its crackdown on coal pollution with a new plan to cut sulfur dioxide - a move that would clean up the air for millions of Americans and bring some relief to people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases.

A national gay rights group filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department on behalf of 19 people who say they were illegally searched and detained during a late-night raid on a crowded gay bar.

Chicken wings were part of the disputed restaurant tab. One day after District Attorney John Morganelli announced he was recommending two college students who refused to pay a tip at the Lehigh Pub be cleared of criminal offenses , Bethlehem police have officially withdrawn the charges.

Schoolteacher Kinzi Blair makes only $46,000 a year, but she has what many would consider a 'Cadillac' health plan, now targeted for a big tax increase by some health reform proposals.

A 14-year-old Alabama girl might have helped arrange the gang rape of her ninth-grade classmate and could face charges as an accomplice based on her comments in a televised interview, a district attorney said.

U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe instructed jurors late Monday on the eight fraud counts, saying they must determine whether or not Bruno schemed to defraud New Yorkers and misrepresented or concealed his sideline business dealings.

A Wisconsin man transformed his apartment into a pornographic shrine to young girls, arranging mannequins in a sex act, plastering the walls with photos and setting up a bed covered with stuffed animals, investigators said Monday.

Reporting from Washington - Only a day after Senate Democrats voted to move into a historic debate on overhauling the nation's healthcare system, key centrists made it clear Sunday that the party was still a long way from delivering on its promise to provide near-universal insurance coverage and contain medical costs.

A Queens man has been charged with murder in the deaths of his wife and teenage son, who were found in a closet wrapped in plastic with their throats slashed.

A Sheboygan teen has been charged with breaking into a neighbor's house to look for snack food.

Hundreds of knife-carrying yobs are to be shown graphic images of stab wounds in an effort to discourage them from reoffending.

A lawyer for Michael Jackson's former personal physician says the doctor is returning to work at his Houston clinic.

Will it be Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz? Maybe none of the above. The announced shutdown of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in two years creates room for a new queen of daytime television.

STREETSBORO -- Police say a bank robbery suspect may have eaten evidence of the crime when he gobbled a piece of paper while handcuffed and lying across the hood of a police cruiser.

Hooray! Tonight we're one step closer to getting a deficit-neutral health care reform bill that has at least some hope of "bending the health cost curve" in the future.

A comparison of the health care bills before Congress: The Senate Democratic bill : WHO'S COVERED: About 94 percent of legal residents under age 65 - compared with 83 percent now.

The victim, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the Seventh Avenue station at West 53rd Street , where the train stopped after the attack at about 2 a.m. The victim, who was in his mid-30s, was repeatedly stabbed in the neck and face with a knife, police said.

The federal judge getting ready to decide whether the government is doing enough to save Columbia River salmon will have a question for its lawyers Monday: If you have plans in your hip pocket in case the fish numbers crash, why not put those plans to work now? For good measure, Judge James Redden underlined the "now" in a memo he sent to the ...

Officials in Humboldt said Friday the police chief has been suspended pending an investigation into alleged misuse of driver's license and criminal history information.

But the Obama administration has so far offered no clear-cut rationale for how it chooses which system will try a detainee.

An Illinois insurance executive accused of secretly making nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews posted US$100,000 bond on Friday - a much larger amount than previously imposed.

After negotiating critical last-minute commitments, Senate Democratic leaders Friday stood on the verge of achieving the necessary 60 votes to begin consideration of the most expansive health care legislation to go before the Senate in nearly half a century.

WASHINGTON a " The fleet of new cars and trucks sold to U.S. consumers averaged 21 miles per gallon in the 2008 model year, a modest increase over the previous year, the Environmental Protection Agency reported Friday.New vehicle fuel efficiency improved 2 percent in 2008 from 20.6 mpg for the 2007 model year.

Police believe a batch of drugs blamed in Michael Jackson's death was purchased by his personal physician at a Las Vegas pharmacy, court documents released Friday show.

A high-profile South Florida attorney under federal investigation for allegedly running a huge fraud scheme has been sued for $100 million by a group of investors.

Powers aimed at tackling violent gangs are to be extended to children as young as 14.

Caption: Chris Brown and Melody Thornton on the set of a music video in Hollywood Los Angeles, California .... BROWN PASSES PROGRESS HEARING CHRIS BROWN has completed just seven out of 52 required domestic violence classes since he was sentenced in June for his attack on ex-girlfriend RIHANNA - but they're enough to keep him out of jail.

The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors, a move Republicans denounced as a political payoff.

The federal government has decided to abandon a Bush administration plan that would have permitted mutual fund companies and brokerage firms to offer investment advice to 401 customers.

An Ohio man has been found not guilty of homicide by child abuse in the 2007 death of his daughter in South Carolina.

Gov. Rick Perry may have to decide whether condemned killer Robert Lee Thompson, set for execution Thursday, lives or dies.

As the U.S. Senate braces for a heated debate about its version of health care reform legislation unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid late Wednesday, U.S. Rep.

Maricopa County prosecutors on Wednesday filed Arizona's first civil complaint against a business under a 22-month-old state law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Setting up a historic year-end health care debate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled long-awaited legislation Wednesday night to extend coverage to all but 6 percent of eligible Americans and bar private industry from denying insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions.

This picture provided on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 by the Cole County Sheriff's Department shows Alyssa Bustamante.

Crystal Godfrey lights candles during a vigil for 5-year-old Shaniya Nicole Davis whose body was found near Sanford, N.C. on Monday, Nov.

A friend invited a 16-year-old girl to join them, and she started drinking hard liquor, too.

A Mid-South oncologist was instrumental in a clinical trial that will help women nationwide.

A Wisconsin man strangled his 14-year-old stepson with a necktie in a minivan in a Walmart parking lot, telling investigators he wanted to get revenge on his wife and her relatives for interfering in his business, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The Obama administration created a new task force on Tuesday vowing to crack down on financial fraud following a rise in mortgage scams and high-profile Wall Street trading scandals.

A suspect in the killing of four people in Oklahoma City, including a prostitute featured in the HBO reality series "Cathouse," turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday, police said.

When it comes to paying for a health care overhaul, Americans see just one way to go: tax the rich.

Business foes of health care overhaul legislation are outspending supporters at a rate of 2-to-1 for TV ads as they grow increasingly nervous over a final bill.

Some employers are pressuring workers not to report illnesses and injuries, just one problem that has led to widespread underreporting of workplace safety issues, according to congressional investigators.

Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study.

Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Dr. Conrad Murray after he failed to appear for previous hearings in the case.

Federal regulators have notified Beazer Homes USA Inc. that its top executive could face civil charges over incentive compensation.

An Indianapolis woman with more than 25 years experience in child welfare, social work and family counseling will be the first ombudsman of Indiana's Department of Child Services.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has said the Obama administration should not allow five accused plotters of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York to be tried in a civilian court.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell says he has the best interest of polar bears at heart, but he doesn't intend to let the federal government's expanded protection for bears get in the way of the state's continued prosperity.

A Wyoming refinery says it plans to fight the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's nearly $7 million fine levied in late September for allegedly dumping hazardous waste into a pond designed to hold storm water.

Serial wife-beaters could be forced to register with police under new proposals by senior officers.

WASHINGTON - Abortion-rights groups, outflanked and outnumbered in the health debate, are scrambling to regain lost ground after the House passed a health bill with strict abortion limits.

WASHINGTON a ' In the official record of the historic House debate on health care overhaul, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities.

An Allen County judge active in juvenile justice matters has been named the state's outstanding judge by the Indiana State Bar Association.

The mother of a 5-year-old girl who disappeared in central North Carolina was charged Saturday with human trafficking and other offenses, though authorities said they still did not know the girl's whereabouts.

Overall spending on health care would rise as a result of legislation approved a week ago by the House, and billions of dollars in projected savings contained in the measure will be difficult to maintain, according to a report by a top official at the agency that oversees Medicare.

The molesters drank blood, the children said, and hung them from hooks after forcing them to have sex with their parents.

The case against a family accused of child sex abuse expanded with the arrest of a sixth relative - a 72-year-old Florida man who had called the allegations against his kin repulsive and appalling.

The move to put the self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind on trial just blocks from ground zero raises a host of legal, political and security questions, chief among them: Can a fair-minded jury be found in a city still nursing deep wounds from the attack on the World Trade Center? Some also worry that the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will make ...

For three years, the federal agency in charge of preventing Medicare fraud repeatedly ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several programs, documents show.

Evangelist Tony Alamo used his stature as a self-proclaimed prophet to force underage girls into sham marriages with him, controlling his followers with their fears of eternal suffering.

Two former employees for Bernard Madoff programmed an old IBM computer to generate false records that concealed the money manager's massive Ponzi scheme and were given hush money when they threatened to stop lying, federal prosecutors said today.

DNA evidence on a bloody sock found hidden in the ceiling and an ink pen found under the body of a Yale graduate student links an animal research technician to her killing, according to an arrest warrant released Friday.

In this undated photo provided by Dennis Hof, Brooke Phillips is seen. Hof, the owner of a Nevada brothel featured on the HBO reality show "Cathouse" says he fears Philips, one of his employees is among the four people whose bodies were found in a burning house in Oklahoma City on Monday, Nov.

A jury has begun deliberating on whether Curtis Vance should be executed or spend his life in prison for the death of a Little Rock TV anchorwoman.

A federal jury Thursday convicted the former manager of an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, which was the site of a massive immigration raid, on 86 of 91 financial fraud charges.

A judge Thursday threw out a murder case against a man imprisoned for nearly two decades and declared he was innocent, saying a key witness lied and others influenced one other into identifying him as the shooter.

The Army psychiatrist suspected in a deadly rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, has been charged in a military court with 13 counts of premeditated murder.

The swift acquittal of two Bear Stearns executives in the government's criminal case tied to the financial meltdown probably will force prosecutors to rethink the evidence they planned to present in a raft of cases that have yet to go to trial, legal experts say.

Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a plan for higher payroll taxes on the upper-income earners to help finance health care legislation he intends to introduce in the Senate in the next several days, numerous Democratic officials said Wednesday.

Kevin McCoy, 20, was struck and killed as he was walking away from a party in the early morning hours of October 23, 2004 in the town of Farmington.

Police arrested these men after relatives accused them of child abuse: Jared Leroy Mohler of Columbia, Mo.; David A. Mohler of Lamoni, Iowa; Burrell Edward Mohler Sr.

A medical examiner says an Arkansas TV anchorwoman was beaten so severely that one blow knocked a tooth out of her mouth and another shoved her jaw to the back of her head.

Ohio wants federal permission to use a strong weapon against a growing problem of bedbugs.

A pregnant woman was repeatedly beaten with a collapsible police baton before a "cutting instrument" was used to slice open her abdomen and remove her fetus, a detective testified Tuesday.

Former President Bill Clinton visited the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to urge Senate Democrats to quickly pass a broad healthcare overhaul, but a party leader said final action could spill into next year.

Nearly half of U.S. lakes and reservoirs contain fish with potentially harmful levels of the toxic metal mercury, according to a federal study released Tuesday.

Two Bear Stearns executives who ran hedge funds that collapsed after betting heavily on the shaky subprime mortgage market were acquitted Tuesday of lying to investors a ' a defeat in the government's bid to punish fraud exposed by the financial crisis.

A lawyer for the TV news producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman plans to ask a judge to dismiss an extortion case that prompted the late-night comic to acknowledge affairs with staffers.

Unless Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine steps in, sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad will be executed Tuesday for the attacks that terrorized the nation's capital region for three weeks in 2002.

A Reno judge has denied a defense motion to prohibit use of DNA evidence at the trial of a man accused of killing a young Reno woman and raping two others.

Abortion opponents in the Senate are seeking tough restrictions in the health care overhaul bill, a move that could roil a shaky Democratic effort to pass President Barack Obama's signature issue by year's end.

Critics of the federal government's draft plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay said it lacked details, while federal officials emphasized they would let states continue successful programs to control pollution flowing into the watershed.

A former lawyer with the enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission pleaded guilty today to conspiring with a prominent Manhattan lawyer to dupe hedge funds out of tens of millions of dollars.

It's one of America's most haunting crime stories: four members of a Kansas family brutally murdered on Nov.

On Saturday, Sharon McDonough of Selden, was arrested for heinous animal cruelty.

A Pennsylvania landowner is suing an energy company for polluting his soil and water in an attempt to link a natural gas drilling technique with environmental contamination.

The trillion dollar Affordable Health Care for America Act, narrowly passed the U.S House of Representatives, Saturday night, 220 to 215.

That is so frustrating," Col. Frank Jackson told a group of about 120 people gathered at one of the post's chapel.

In this Oct. 26, 2009 photo, Northwestern University professor David Protess , founder of the Medill Innocence Project , talks with journalism students at a reporting strategy session in Evanston, Ill.

A 38-year-old Valrico man who alledgedly gave his nephew grain alcohol is being held without bond in Hillsborough County.

With the technology industry looking on, the Supreme Court on Monday will explore what types of inventions should be eligible for a patent in a pivotal case that could undermine such legal protections for software.

A bipartisan coalition sought to impose stricter abortion limits on insurance sold under a new health care bill Saturday, hoping to leave their imprint on legislation otherwise crafted largely by more liberal lawmakers.

After months of struggle capped by a final wrenching compromise over abortion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted, "we will pass health care reform," and likened the events to the creation of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later.

Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman and judged incorrigible though he was only 13 at the time of the attack.

Orlando Police said Jason Rodriguez, 40, is a suspect in the shooting at a downtown office on Nov.

House Democrats acknowledged they don't yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, and signaled they may push back the vote until tomorrow or early next week.

A New York City woman convicted of killing her father and mutilating his body has been sentenced to five to 15 years in prison.

Royce Clyde Zeigler II enters Judge David Garner's 10th District Court in Galveston , Texas Wednesday November 4, 2009.

A jury rejected a Florida man's claims that he was too fat to have run up and down a flight of stairs and killed his former son-in-law, convicting him Friday of murder.

Lax standards of school discipline make pupils more likely to turn to crime and drugs, Government research has revealed.

The Florida agency that manages $132 billion in pension and local government investments is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

No bars or razor wire hold former Florida inmate No. 082629. Instead, William Dillon sits on furniture the color of ripe lemons, surrounded by cheerful animal statues and blooming plants, a prisoner no longer after 27 years.

Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 11:01 p.m. WASHINGTON - Defying the Obama administration, the House Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to remove from the USA Patriot Act a tool for tracking non-U.S. citizens in anti-terrorism investigations.

Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. a ' Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to the White House and tax crimes in a deal that could send him to prison for about 2A1 2 years.

Criminal charges have been filed against 14 people, including attorneys and Wall Street professionals, in a widening $53 million insider trading case that has already snared one of the richest men in America, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

As House Democrats prepare to vote Saturday on a sweeping bill to overhaul the nation's healthcare system, they picked up an important endorsement today from the 40-million member AARP, the nation's largest senior citizens group.

A mother-of-three has branded a council "ludicrous and completely outrageous" as she took the authority to court for using controversial powers to spy on her family.

Sentencing judges should spell out the exact amount of time a criminal is likely to spend in prison, Victims' Champion Sara Payne has said.

In this Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2006 file picture, John Gotti Jr. exits Manhattan federal court after his third trial ended in a mistrial in New York.

The House Financial Services Committee has voted to give federal regulators more power and money to police major players in the stock market.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is paying more than $700 million to settle federal regulators' charges it made unlawful payments to friends of public officials to win municipal bond business in Jefferson County, Ala.

In a blow to the White House, the Senate's top Democrat signaled Tuesday that Congress may fail to meet a year-end deadline for passing health care legislation, leaving the measure's fate to the uncertainties of the 2010 election season.

Immigration agents assigned to track down people who have ignored deportation orders have increasingly arrested immigrants with criminal records during the past year, new data show.

Four Amish leaders in southwest Missouri who chose to "shun" an accused child molester in their community rather than report him to authorities were charged Tuesday with failing to report the sexual abuse.

A Texas judge ordered Tuesday that a document showing a member of a polygamist sect had at least four wives who were pregnant or nursing at the same time should be excluded from his trial on charges of child sexual abuse.

Bernard Madoff's longtime auditor pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges Tuesday, saying he failed to do his job to verify the disgraced money manager's financial records but did not know Madoff was running history's biggest Ponzi scheme.

Rihanna found it hard to come to terms with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown assaulting her because he was her first true love.

The state Department of Health and Hospitals plans to dip into several one-time revenue sources and cut spending on mental health, public health and prescription drugs to make up for a $308 million deficit in its Medicaid program , authorities said Monday.

The Lawry's restaurant chain agreed Monday to pay more than $1 million to settle a federal lawsuit that claimed it barred men from waiting tables at its high-end steakhouses.

Republican senators on Monday demanded additional studies on the cost and job impact of a climate bill before it is voted on by a key committee, exposing the sharp partisan divide in Congress over legislation aimed at addressing global warming.

Several Supreme Court justices seemed unsympathetic Monday to calls for the courts to get involved in reining in what investors are calling "excessive" fees on mutual funds, a popular investment vehicle for millions of Americans.

Federal environmental regulators want to fine the Municipal Transit Authority for spilling thousands of gallons of diesel fuel into the San Francisco Bay.

Radovan Karadzic will on Tuesday appear before a United Nations war crimes tribunal in a special hearing that will attempt to end the former Bosnian Serb leader's boycott of his trial for genocide.

PORT ANGELES, Wash. - The arraignment of a Washington state farmer accused of being a bank robber has been delayed in federal court.

Six badly decomposed bodies found at the home of a convicted rapist facing a new rape allegation were females and all were homicide victims, the coroner's office said Sunday.

For millions of Americans the rule is simple: If you don't come to work, you don't get paid.

David Tarloff lives in a deeply troubled inner world. He was diagnosed as schizophrenic and hospitalized more than a dozen times before hacking a Manhattan psychologist to death with a meat cleaver.

Many communities hit hardest by job losses, those built around dying factories and mills, have been slowest to see relief from President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, underscoring how hard it is for Washington policymakers to create lasting work in areas that need it most.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 2 percent of Americans under the age of 65 would sign up for insurance under the much-debated public option.

The doctor doesn't look like much of a crusader, bent over the frail frame of 90-year-old Alberta Scott.