■ The 15-year-old son of an accused mugger met this week with his father’s alleged victim to make amends. Christian Lunsford sought out Tona Herndon—who had her purse snatched while visiting her late husband’s gravesite in Bethany, Okla.—after learning that his father, Shane, had been arrested for the crime. The teenager met with Herndon to apologize and give back $250 […]
Read more
In the United States, a theft occurs every 4 seconds, a burglary every 10 seconds, an assault every 29 seconds, a rape every 5 minutes and a murder every 21 minutes.
Read more
American culture is sick, and secularism is the cause of our disease. That, said Steve Chapman, is the contention of religious conservatives like presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who insist that feminists, liberals, and gay marriage have undermined traditional morality, and that only a return to our Christian roots will cure what ails us. But all evidence suggests that this view […]
Read more
■ A North Carolina woman called the 911 emergency line to report that Subway had given her a flatbread pizza made with marinara sauce instead of pizza sauce. ‘It’s terrible, and I got my receipt” Bevalente Hall, 37, told 911 operators. “I can’t eat that kind of sauce.” She was arrested and charged with misuse of the 911 system.
Read more
Elephant Poaching – Slaughtered For Their Tusks Warning: This article contains graphic images of elephants being slaughtered. Gaborone, Botswana States where the illegal ivory trade operates agreed to tougher measures to try to stop the slaughter of African elephants for their tusks. The African Elephant Summit in Botswana brought together negotiators from elephant habitat countries Gabon, Kenya, Niger, and Zambia; […]
Read more
Young people who are randomly stopped for questioning by the police—even if they’ve done nothing wrong—are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later than those who aren’t stopped, a new study has found. University of Missouri researchers say that “stop-and-frisk” programs intended to deter crime may actually create more criminals. Researchers followed 2,600 students for seven years and recorded […]
Read more
Chimpanzees, our closest relatives, turn a blind eye to crimes that don’t affect them directly, suggesting that third-party punishment— the foundation of complex societies governed by laws s and courts—is a uniquely human development. German researchers trained chimpanzees to 1 play one of three roles while facing one another in cages: One was given access to food within reach of […]
Read more
The question has puzzled criminologists for decades: Why did violent crime rates start to soar across the U.S. from the 1960s, before beginning “a spectacular decline” in the 1990s—a decline that’s continued ever since? Theories abound, from improved policing strategies to the end of the crack epidemic. But a more likely possibility is a molecule, said Kevin Drum in Mother […]
Read more