Law NPR stories on legal issues, court rulings, Supreme Court hearings, new laws and government investigations. Download the NPR Justice Talking podcast and subscribe to the Legal Affairs RSS feed.
Mary Rodee, whose 15-year-old son died by suicide, points to a banner listing victims' names outside Los Angeles Superior Court on March 25 after a jury found Meta and YouTube liable for harming a young woman through the addictive design of their social media platforms. The landmark verdict could reshape how the tech industry faces legal accountability for harms to users.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Verdicts against Meta and Google may bring a new era of big tech accountability
A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files shows a diagram prepared by the FBI attempting to chart the network of Epstein's victims and the timeline of their alleged abuse.
Jon Elswick/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jon Elswick/AP
A banner featuring an image of President Trump is displayed on the facade of the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Justice Department has been trying to force states to hand over sensitive voter data that it plans to share with the Department of Homeland Security.
Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images
Carla Wale, the director of the Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington School of Law, is developing optional AI ethics training for law school students.
Martin Kaste/NPR
hide caption
toggle caption
Martin Kaste/NPR
An app for Kalshi, an online prediction market site, is shown on a phone. Multiple states have tried to block the company from operating, citing state gambling laws. But the federal government has sued to block those state laws to allow Kalshi and other prediction markets to operate.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Trump administration sues three states over attempts to regulate prediction markets
Attorney General Pam Bondi delivers remarks at the Department of Justice on Feb. 6.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Demonstrators rally in support of birthright citizenship outside the U.S. Supreme Court as President Donald Trump attends oral arguments in Washington, D.C., on April 1.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
ATC SCOTUS birthright arguments
Demonstrators hold up anti-Trump signs outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on June 27, 2025.
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump's car arrives at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday morning.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen on March 4 in Washington, D.C.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Yemeni security guards stand outside the parliament building in Sanna in 2015, the same year that a Yemeni lawmaker says he was targeted for assassination. Anssaf Ali Mayo is now suing former U.S. military members who he says were hired to kill him.
Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images
The Supreme Court's decision on birthright citizenship will impact access to schools
This photo shows an exterior view of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit building from 2002 in Washington, D.C.
Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
AGING JUDGE FIGHTS FOR HER JOB
An American flag is seen outside the Supreme Court, in Washington, D.C., in November. This week, the high court will hear oral arguments for a case that could change who gets to be a U.S. citizen.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Some critics of birthright citizenship say it's a fraud issue. What does that mean?
A woman screams during a government-organized event to watch former President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores appear in a New York court on a screen in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Ariana Cubillos/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Ariana Cubillos/AP
A courtroom sketch shows U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein at the Manhattan federal court hearing over Donald Trump's push to move his criminal case to federal court, in New York City, on June 27, 2023.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
hide caption
toggle caption
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
Violeta Encarnación for NPR
ICE is among the government agencies that buy commercial data about Americans in bulk.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Your data is everywhere. The government is buying it without a warrant
A recording of Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's deposition is played for the jurors on March 4 in Santa Fe, N.M.
Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican/AP
Colin McDonald speaks during his Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing on Feb. 25, 2026 in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Supreme Court
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Supreme Court considers laws allowing mail-in votes to be counted after Election Day
The U.S. Supreme Court
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22.
Markus Schreiber/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Markus Schreiber/AP