By The Associated Press, CNN.com

HARTFORD, Conn. - Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking Web site, will add more than 40 safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyberbullies, attorneys general from several states said Thursday.   Read More

By Daniel B. Wood, The Christian Science Monitor

LOS ANGELES - The arrest this week of 96 suspects on drug-related charges, including 75 students, after a six-month sting operation at San Diego State University is shining a fresh spotlight on the issue of growing substance abuse at America's colleges and universities.   Read More

By Pamela Brogan, Iowa City Press-Citizen

WASHINGTON -- Iowa counties would be eligible for additional federal dollars to help pay the costs of jailing illegal immigrants under a bill the House unanimously approved Thursday.   Read More

By Nicholas Confesore, The New York Times

Hundreds of lawyers across the state have been illegally granted state pension benefits by school districts, towns and other governmental entities, according to Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who has opened an investigation into the abuses.   Read More

By Jason Felch and Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times (registration)

One of the key issues in a case argued Thursday before the California Supreme Court is how to describe the significance of a "cold hit," when a criminal suspect is first identified through a DNA database search.   Read More

By Sean Cockerham, Anchorage Daily News (registration)

A federal judge sentenced former Wasilla state Rep. Vic Kohring to 3.5 years in prison Thursday for taking bribes in a scheme to keep Alaska oil taxes down.   Read More

By Brooke Adams and Mark Havnes, The Salt Lake Tribune

ST. GEORGE, Utah -- Attorney General Mark Shurtleff called a raid on a polygamous sect's ranch in Texas no surprise given the group's resistant, secretive practices but said Thursday he would never authorize such a move in Utah.   Read More

By Pamela Manson, The Salt Lake Tribune

Opponents of proposed constitutional amendments designed to streamline death penalty appeals said Thursday that the measures are too broad and would upset the balance of powers among the three branches of government.   Read More

By The Associated Press, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Two Anchorage lawmakers say the Legislature needs to audit the state's Department of Corrections.   Read More

By Dan Joling, The Associated Press, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Facing a prison sentence of 3 1/2 years, a former Alaska lawmaker said he's broke and has lost respect for the U.S. government, but that his conscience is clear.   Read More

By The Associated Press, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) (registration)

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. - Six prisoners were airlifted for medical treatment after being injured in fights at the state prison in Douglas.   Read More

By David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle

Chevron Corp. and other big oil companies have agreed to pay $422 million to settle a major lawsuit over the gasoline additive MTBE, and much of the money will go to plaintiffs in California.   Read More

By Andy Furillo, The Sacramento Bee (registration)

Twelve California counties, including Yolo, are in line to receive a combined $750 million in jail construction funds under recommendations released Thursday by the state Corrections Standards Authority.   Read More

From Times wire services, Los Angeles Times (registration)

California's Megan's Law website is being credited with helping to capture a registered sex offender who approached a 15-year-old girl near her Riverside home.   Read More

By Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times (registration)

Members of a charity group threatened with arrest while trying to feed homeless people at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point have filed a federal lawsuit against state parks officials, claiming interference with their constitutional rights.   Read More

By The Associated Press, USA Today

SAN DIEGO - The suspected leader of a drug trafficking ring was among seven students who pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from an undercover operation at San Diego State University that netted more than 100 arrests.   Read More

By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Denver)

Facebook will put in new safeguards to protect children from online predators and inappropriate content.   Read More

By The Associated Press, The Hartford Courant (registration)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Details of a sex scandal involving a top South Korean official and an art history professor, who lied about having a Yale degree, will be used by the Ivy League school to defend itself against a federal lawsuit filed by the South Korean university that hired the professor.   Read More

By Adam Taylor, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)

WILMINGTON, Del. - The latest eminent domain reform bill in the state legislative pipeline would bring riverfront development "to a screeching halt" if passed, Mayor James M. Baker said Thursday.   Read More

By Steve Bousquet, St. Petersburg Times

Gov. Charlie Crist said "God bless Gov. Chiles" as the 2008 Legislature drew to a close last week, thankful for $2.4-billion in reserves made possible by the late Lawton Chiles.   Read More

By Larry O'Dell, The Associated Press, The Macon Telegraph

RICHMOND, Va. -- Peanut farmers in seven states whose crops were devastated by the 2002 drought are entitled to only a little more than half the $30 million in insurance payments ordered by a lower court, a federal appeals panel ruled Thursday.   Read More

By Shannon McCaffrey, The Associated Press, The Athens Banner-Herald

Two days after becoming the first state to break a seven-month pause in executions, Georgia is moving quickly to put another convicted killer to death later this month.   Read More

By David Markiewicz, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration)

Members of DeKalb County's state legislative delegation have decided not to file their own complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice about a legislative bill that would give Dunwoody residents the right to vote for incorporation.   Read More

By Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (registration)

An execution warrant was signed Thursday for death-row inmate Samuel David Crowe, who is now scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection 7 p.m. on May 22.   Read More

By Darwin Danielson, Radio Iowa

Another top social networking website has agreed to take steps to protect children from sexual predators and inappropriate content. Bob Brammer, a spokesman for Iowa's Attorney General, says several states have reached an agreement with "Facebook."   Read More

By Darwin Danielson, Radio Iowa

Senate Republican Leader Ron Wieck of Sioux City says it appears the Iowa Department of Transportation broke the law by having a public hearing notice printed in the Sioux City Journal Thursday in both English and Spanish.   Read More

By The Associated Press, Sioux City Journal

Iowa's Amber Alert system is five years old and state officials say changes are planned to make the system more efficient.   Read More

By William Petroski, The Des Moines Register

NEWTON, Iowa -- Iowa's prisons will become tobacco-free in early January even though state lawmakers exempted the institutions in a new law that bans smoking in most public places.   Read More

By The Associated Press, Quad-City Times

Iowa's prisons are going smoke-free, despite an exemption from the state's new statewide smoking ban.   Read More

By Charlotte Eby, Quad-City Times

Those who attend and bet on illegal animal fights could now face tougher penalties, thanks to the work of two Davenport lawmakers who want to stop animal abuse.   Read More

By William Petroski, The Des Moines Register

The Iowa Department of Transportation plans to keep publishing official notices in Spanish and other languages, despite a recent court ruling upholding the state's English-language law, a spokeswoman said Thursday.   Read More

By Kurt Erickson, Quad-City Times

Gov. Rod Blagojevich Thursday panned a plan aimed at stopping him from closing the state prison in Pontiac.   Read More

By Meagan Sexton, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)

Mandatory overtime is jeopardizing services at 24-hour state facilities, a labor union representing state employees claimed in a report released Thursday. Jessica Becket believes the extended hours contributed to her accident.   Read More

By The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune (registration)

Republican lawmakers are proposing a ban on closing any Illinois prisons until a study is done on the needs of the state corrections system.   Read More

By Ray Gibson, Chicago Tribune (registration)

A Wilmette businessman who testified last week against political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko at his federal corruption trial sought Thursday to force Rezko's bankruptcy over his failure to repay more than $18 million.   Read More

By Nguyen Huy Vu, The Associated Press, The State Journal-Register (Springfield)

The head of Northern Illinois University said the school has a $7.7 million plan to remodel the lecture hall where five people were slain by a suicidal gunman on Valentine's Day.   Read More

By Tom Coyne, The Associated Press, The Indianapolis Star

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The state has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to reinstate the conviction of a man accused of killing his minister father, stepmother and two stepsisters so he could attend high school prom events in 1989.   Read More

By Marti Goodland Heline, South Bend Tribune

"I just thought it was stupid." That was the reaction of Sarah Bird, co-owner of the Griffon Bookstore in downtown South Bend, when she first heard of a new law that will require retailers of sexually explicit materials to register with the state and pay a fee.   Read More

, South Bend Tribune

The office of Attorney General Steve Carter has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to review Jeffrey Pelley's quadruple murder case.   Read More

, South Bend Tribune

The Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed the battery conviction and sentence of Kwasi Barnes, who was found guilty in 2007 of a Class A felony in the death of a 15-month-old girl.   Read More

By David Klepper and Jeannine Koranda, Wichita Eagle (registration)

Kansas lawmakers spent the 2008 session wrestling mightily with problems of national, even global scope, and their failures were nearly as big.   Read More

By Scott Rothschild, The Lawrence Journal-World

If the 2008 legislative session produced unanimity in one area, it was that most everyone was glad when it ended.   Read More

By James Carlson, The Topeka Capital-Journal

For the second time in as many years, lawmakers said with a unified voice that Kansas hates funeral protests.   Read More

By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Legislation that would give citizens a greater role in having a crime-riddled business closed for as many as five years cleared the House 89-0 Thursday.   Read More

By Sandy Davis, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)

A state Senate bill that sets deadlines for closing Jetson - a state-run juvenile prison with a history of brutality - and for establishing smaller, regionalized juvenile detention facilities has a good chance of passing, said State Sen. Donald Cravins Jr.   Read More

By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Individuals who provide ammunition to convicted felons should wind up behind bars for up to five years, the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice decided Thursday.   Read More

By Jonathan Saltzman, The Boston Globe (registration)

It started with a simple, if potentially urgent, need. A court official wanted a key to gain access to a bathroom.   Read More

By Laura Smitherman, The Sun (Baltimore)

Gov. Martin O'Malley met yesterday with prison officials in Western Maryland, where more than 20 correctional officers were fired recently after allegations of inmate abuse, and said he would consider extending the time before disciplinary action is taken in such cases.   Read More

By Walter Griffin, Bangor Daily News

PORTLAND, Maine- Just in time for boating season, the Supreme Judicial Court has determined that it is allowable for municipalities to ban personal watercraft on ponds and lakes. The Law Court overturned a lower court ruling that allowed the operation of personal watercraft on bodies of water despite municipal ordinances preventing their use.   Read More

By Mark Hornbeck, The Detroit News

Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings found herself in the awkward position Thursday of asking state lawmakers for $1 million to help run her crime lab, only a couple of weeks after shutting down the lab's firearms section for incorrectly classifying evidence in a double homicide.   Read More

By Christine Rook, Lansing State Journal

A potentially devastating ruling Wednesday by Michigan's high court about same-sex benefits is likely to have little local effect.   Read More

By Melissa Huffer, The Columbia Missourian

COLUMBIA, Mo. - An anti-illegal immigration group is advertising in newspapers across Missouri to support a Senate bill, which among other things would ban illegal immigrants from higher education and jobs.   Read More

By Greg Wasserman, The Columbia Missourian

Facebook, one of the world?s largest social networking Web sites, has reached an agreement with attorneys general from across the country, including Jay Nixon of Missouri.   Read More

By The News Tribune Staff, Jefferson City News Tribune

Consumers are advised to be aware of letters offering mortgage insurance, refinancing and other services.   Read More

By Bobby Harrison, The Daily Journal (Tupelo)

In a continuing effort to develop restrictions to protect children on the Internet, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Thursday that he and 47 of his counterparts have hammered out an agreement with Facebook.   Read More

By The Associated Press, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)

The nation's largest insurance company has settled out of court with more than a dozen Mississippi policyholders whose lawyers were barred from representing them in lawsuits against the insurer over Hurricane Katrina damage, according to court filings Thursday.   Read More

By Jennifer McKee, Helena Independent Record

Teachers, not cops, are the most effective weapons against crime, said Lee Bruner, a Republican candidate for attorney general who said this week he supports coal mining as a way to pay for public education.   Read More

By News Services, Billings Gazette

The Montana Highway Patrol squad that conducted traffic enforcement in the Billings area last week stopped 277 vehicles.   Read More

By Jennifer McKee, Billings Gazette

Montana law enforcement needs more manpower in the battle against methamphetamine, and addicts need more treatment, a Democratic candidate for attorney general said.   Read More

By The Associated Press, USA Today

BILLINGS, Mont. - A federal judge in Montana has rejected the government's request to delay a lawsuit seeking to place the gray wolf back on the endangered species list.   Read More

By News Services, Billings Gazette

HARDIN, Mont. -- An empty $27 million jail in Hardin has defaulted on its bonds, as the city heads to court Friday to try to get out-of-state inmates into the facility.   Read More

By Kristin Collins, The News & Observer (Raleigh) (registration)

In a statement that defied the legal advice of the state's attorney general, Gov. Mike Easley told community colleges Thursday that they can set their own admission standards, which currently welcome students regardless of their immigration status.   Read More

By Staff Reports, Lincoln Journal Star

Attorney General Jon Bruning joined 48 other attorneys general in announcing that social-networking site Facebook agreed to changes to better protect children from predators and inappropriate content.   Read More

By Nancy Hicks, Lincoln Journal Star

If the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission and Attorney General Jon Bruning can?t cooperate, about 80 housing discrimination complaints a year will go to federal investigators.   Read More

By Judith Lucas and Brad Parks, The Star-Ledger (Newark)

Working late into the night, going word by painstaking word, the McGreeveys and their attorneys reached an agreement yesterday on custody of the couple's 6-year-old daughter, effectively ending the first section of their three-part divorce trial.   Read More

By Claire Heininger, The Star-Ledger (Newark)

When Gov. Christie Whitman was in office, she and then-state Supreme Court Chief Justice Deborah Poritz would sit down to lunch every few months at the governor's mansion, talking about administrative issues, the appointment of judges, who might make a good candidate. But they were careful not to venture into matters pending be fore the court.   Read More

By The Associated Press, The New York Times

ELIZABETH, N.J. - Former Gov. James E. McGreevey and his estranged wife settled child custody matters on Thursday as they moved closer to dissolving their marriage, their lawyers said.   Read More

By Deborah Baker, The Associated Press, Las Cruces Sun-News

CLAYTON, N.M. - A magistrate lowered the bond for the leader of an apocalyptic sect who is accused of sex crimes against young female followers, but refused to release him.   Read More

By Annette Wells and Paul Harasim, Las Vegas Review-Journal (registration)

Health authorities said Thursday that 77 more patients might have contracted hepatitis C at a local medical clinic where unsafe injection practices have been identified.   Read More

By Brendan Riley, The Associated Press, Las Vegas Review-Journal (registration)

A judge on Thursday approved a request from Nevada first lady Dawn Gibbons, hit with a divorce complaint from Gov. Jim Gibbons, to have the couple's closed-door divorce trial moved from Carson City to Reno.   Read More

By Keith Herbert, Newsday

Gov. David A. Paterson met Thursday with Sean Bell's family at his office in Manhattan, where he endorsed a proposal to test officers involved in shootings for alcohol or drugs. The reform has been sought by activists after Bell's 50-shot slaying in 2006.   Read More

By Jennifer Peltz, The Associated Press, Syracuse Post-Standard

NEW YORK ? Gov. David Paterson pledged Thursday to examine undercover police conduct in the aftermath of the 50-bullet police shooting of an unarmed man.   Read More

By Fredric Dicker, New York Post

Nervous state Power Authority officials have hired a $400-an-hour private lawyer to handle Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's probe of the destruction of e-mails and other records relating to Daniel Wiese, the authority's suspended inspector general, The Post has learned.   Read More

By The Associated Press, USA Today

NEW YORK - Gov. David Paterson pledged to examine undercover police conduct on Thursday, a day after more than 200 people were arrested protesting the acquittal of three detectives involved in the shooting death of an unarmed man.   Read More

By Laura A. Bischoff, Dayton Daily News

As a state senator, Marc Dann railed against then-Gov. Bob Taft for failing to disclose golf outings and other freebies on his annual financial disclosure statements filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission.   Read More

By William Hershey, Dayton Daily News

House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, believes an independent, external investigation is needed to gather all the facts before the House considers whether to impeach Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann.   Read More

By Anthony Gottschlich, Dayton Daily News

DAYTON, Ohio - Enforcing Ohio's indoor smoking ban costs big bucks, and the fines issued to violators don't come close to paying for it, local health department officials have discovered.   Read More

By The Associated Press, Toledo Blade

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A former aide to embattled Attorney General Marc Dann says he was terminated last year without an investigation by the office, unlike two top aides who were fired last week after sexual harassment claims against one of them prompted an internal probe.   Read More

By Reginald Fields, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

An attorney general's office secretary who worked for a manager who was fired last week has been suspended for having information on her state computer erased.   Read More

By Kim Morava, Shawnee News-Star

SHAWNEE, Okla. - A judge sided with the Shawnee police union in an issue involving minimum staffing policies that the city had appealed to district court, but the police chief is expected to seek another appeal.   Read More

By John Greiner, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) (registration)

An Oklahoma City senator asked the House speaker Thursday to allow a vote on her bill that would strengthen the law on adults supplying beer and alcohol on their property to minors.   Read More

By Edward Walsh, The Oregonian (Portland)

It's a classic case of unintended consequences. In 2000, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 3, a constitutional amendment that imposed restrictions on the ability of government agencies to transfer legal ownership of property connected to a crime.   Read More

By Staff Reports, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Blue ribbons will be placed on all marked Pennsylvania State Police vehicles next week in honor of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty, Commissioner Jeffrey Miller said.   Read More

By Moriah Balingit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The social networking Web site Facebook signed an agreement with 48 states and the District of Columbia yesterday that Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett believes will make the site safer for underage users.   Read More

By Jim Baron, The Pawtuckett Times

A Senate resolution to move the proposed site of the Blackstone Valley Courthouse from Lincoln to Smithfield and prepare for construction in the budget year beginning July, 2009 won unanimous passage in the Senate Wednesday, but initial indications are it might face rougher sledding in the House of Representatives.   Read More

By Rick Brundrett, The State (Columbia)

Confirmation hearings for Gov. Mark Sanford's nominee to lead the embattled Department of Public Safety likely will be held the week of May 19, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Thursday.   Read More

By Tim Smith, The Greenville News

Senators questioned today whether the state Highway Patrol has exceeded its mission by creating drug-interdiction squads, a SWAT team and allowing troopers to accompany college coaches as security during games.   Read More

By The Associated Press, Spartanburg Herald-Journal (registration)

The governor's nominee to lead the Department of Public Safety will face questioning from senators later this month about how he plans to restore public trust in the agency.   Read More

By Seanna Adcox, The Associated Press, Spartanburg Herald-Journal (registration)

Advocates for the elderly hope a task force announced Thursday will stop scams that rob the state's seniors of their hard-earned savings.   Read More

By Tim Smith, The Greenville News

Greenville Sen. Mike Fair told the Senate today that he plans to side with the House on immigration reform.   Read More

By Yvonne Wenger, The Post and Courier (Charleston)

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is undertaking a new initiative that see