Baldwin says ATF stings "totally inexcusable," DOJ IG to investigate

"The U.S. Justice Department inspector general is reviewing the findings of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation revealing how ATF used rogue tactics in storefront sting operations nationwide and is considering how he will investigate them." Read the full story here.

"USA TODAY examined FBI data -- which defines a mass killing as four or more victims -- as well as local police records and media reports to understand mass killings in America. They happen far more often than the government reports, and the circumstances of those killings -- the people who commit them, the weapons they use and the forces that motivate them -- are far more predictable than many might think."

In half of all capital cases in Arizona since 2002, prosecutorial misconduct was alleged by appellate attorneys. Those allegations ranged in seriousness from being over emotional to encouraging perjury. Nearly half those allegations were validated by the Arizona Supreme Court.

An investigation by The Dallas Morning News found that a state law designed to keep ammonium nitrate secured from would-be terrorists sets a lax standard for keeping Texans safe. According to the state agency charged with enforcing the 2007 law, it has acted only once to temporarily bar a facility from selling ammonium nitrate that had recurring problems.

“The Post-Dispatch has identified 100 people arrested in error over the past seven years. Collectively, they spent more than 2,000 days in jail — an average of about three weeks each. One man alone was incarcerated 211 days. About a quarter were held repeatedly — one of them, five times — and 15 were locked up while the right suspect was already behind bars.”

“Questions center on an expedited jail process and an invitation to the sheriff’s shooting range while the 49ers' star linebacker was under investigation for owning illegal assault weapons”

A father-son logging team in Vermont with a history of environmental and criminal violations is implicated in yet another investigation, while the landowners who contracted them are left with the bill for environmental remediation on their property, Hilary Niles for VTDigger, reports.

State authorities won't even use the word "logging" to describe what the men do, but they can call themselves loggers because the industry is unregulated in the state.

“Named in more than 60,000 legal claims, Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific sought salvation in a secret research program it launched in hopes of exonerating its product as a carcinogen, court records obtained by the Center for Public Integrity show.”

“Justices have the option of recusing themselves from cases involving donor attorneys but have rarely stepped aside, remaining involved in nearly 98 percent of such cases, the Center found.”

“An investigation into current law governing impaired driving by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit discovered large holes when it comes to regulating and determining who is legally impaired due to drug use.”