1997
DECEMBER
December 29, 1997
Penalty Phase
After convicting Terry Nichols of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter, the jury must decide whether he should receive the death penalty.

December 24, 1997
The Jury Decides
The jury in the Terry Nichols bombing trial hands down a mixed verdict.

December 22, 1997
Testing The System
A legal challenge to university affirmative action programs.

December 17, 1997
The Jury Shall Decide
The fate of alleged Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols rests in the hands of the jury.

December 11, 1997
The Defense Rests
After 92 witnesses, the defense ends its case in the Terry Nichols trial.

December 3, 1997
Defining Harassment
Does the 1964 Civil Rights Act protect against same sex harassment?

December 2, 1997
The Case Against Nichols
The prosecution ends its case in the second Oklahoma bombing trial.

NOVEMBER
November 26, 1997
Right to Die?
Examining Oregon's assisted suicide law and the issues surrounding it.

November 21, 1997
A Case of "Diversity"
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of a New Jersey school teacher who was laid off for reasons of "diversity."

November 19, 1997
New Adoption Law
A new law speeds up the adoption process for foster care children.

November 19, 1997
Forum: Predators or Citizens?
Does the law protect sex offenders or community neighborhoods?

November 13, 1997
Nomination On Hold
A vote on the President's choice for chief civil rights lawyer is delayed.

November 12, 1997
Bombs Away
The jury selection began in California for Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

November 10, 1997
Off The Hook?
The au pair trial has been the focus of much attention, and it gained an even larger audience. Louise Woodward was set free after serving 279 days in jail.

November 5, 1997
Civil Rights Fight
The debate surrounding Asst. Attorney General nominee Bill Lann Lee.

November 4, 1997
Testimony Begins
Was Terry Nichols a co-conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing?

November 4, 1997
A Shot At Safety
Will Washington State's tough new initiative reduce gun-related deaths?

November 3, 1997
Supreme Court Update
The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to California's Proposition 209, the 1996 initiative which overturned affirmative action in the state.

OCTOBER
October 30, 1997
Changing Times
Tuesday marks election day around the country. Among other things, 11 mayors' jobs are on the line. One of them is in Minneapolis.

October 6, 1997
The Term Ahead...
The Supreme Court will consider key affirmative action cases this fall.

SEPTEMBER
September 29, 1997
Murder And Conspiracy?
In Denver, Terry Nichols goes on trial for the Oklahoma City bombing.

September 12, 1997
Pushing The Bounties
Authorities push to regulate bounty hunters.

September 3, 1997
Laying Down The Law
What kind of justice do the paparazzi face in France?

AUGUST
August 26, 1997
Joseph Hartzler
A conversation with the lead prosecutor of Timothy McVeigh.

August 25, 1997
The Smoke Settles
Florida has become the second state to win an out-of-court settlement with the tobacco industry. The $11.3 billion deal will help recover the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses.

August 20, 1997
Bound By Love?
Thousands of marriages fall apart every year, and the State of Louisana is trying to do something about the separations. It passed a law which went into effect last week allowing couples to choose a new kind of union called "Covenant Marriage."

August 1, 1997
Deadly Imitation
Three men are arrested for building five powerful bombs in a Brooklyn building. Police and the FBI reported that the suspects were "planning to target U.S. and Jewish interests worldwide."

JULY
July 30, 1997
Death Penalty Update
The American Bar Association said recently it believes the federal law that limits death penalty appeals may be unconstitutional, and has called for a moratorium on executions in 38 states.

July 2, 1997
Session In Review
Four noted legal experts discuss the major decisions handed down in this past term of the Supreme Court.

JUNE
June 27, 1997
Court Strikes Gun Rule
The Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Brady gun law, ruling 5 to 4 that the Federal government couldn't make local sheriffs run background checks on handgun purchasers.

June 26, 1997
Right To Die Denied
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that states may outlaw doctor-assisted suicides. Now, the lawyers who argued the case in court debate the verdict.

June 26, 1997
Virtual Victory?
The Internet community is breathing easier now that the Supreme Court has struck down the Communications Decency Act, which would have limited adult-oriented online material.

June 25, 1997
Too Much Freedom?
The Supreme Court struck down the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was meant to protect religious institutions from government infringement. Did the act go too far?

June 23, 1997
Public Teachers, Private Schools
The Supreme Court decides to allow public school teachers to teach remedial classes at private schools, while still on the taxpayers' clock. This reverses the Court's 1985 decision not to allow the teachers to teach for parochial schools. Why the change?

June 23, 1997
Certiorari Denied
By opting not to hear the case, the Supreme Court let stand a lower court order: White House lawyers must surrender notes from their talks with Mrs. Clinton to a Whitewater grand jury.

June 20, 1997
Tobacco Agreement
A broad plan that would eliminate most tobacco ads and force manufacturers to pay $386.5 billion to cover smoking related health care costs has been reached after months of negotiations.

June 19, 1997
Drawing The Lines
The Supreme Court decided to uphold a plan drawn by Georgia courts to redistrict the state, cutting the number from predominantly African-American districts from three to one. What will this do for race relations in that state?

June 18, 1997
Facing Justice
Mir Amal Kansi, the man accused of a 1993 shooting of two CIA employees outside an office in suburban Virginia now awaits trial on capital murder charges. He was recently extradited to the U.S. for trial and now faces the death penalty.

June 18, 1997
Continuing Unrest
Reports say fugitive leader Pol Pot has surrendered to Khmer Rouge rebels. Later reports, though, say he is still at large. Either case, Pol Pot oversaw the killing of 2 million Cambodians.

June 13, 1997
McVeigh: Sentenced To Die
A Denver jury sentenced Timothy McVeigh to death for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City after 11 hours of deliberation.

June 11, 1997
"Yes, I Am Pleading For My Son's Life"
The parents of Timothy McVeigh address the jury, pleading that their son not be sentenced to a lethal injection for his conviction in the Oklahoma City bombing trial.

June 6, 1997
Recurring Nightmare
Timothy McVeigh's lawyers attempt to spare him from the death penalty after more testimony from victims and their families in the sentencing phase of the Oklahoma City bombing trial.

June 4, 1997
Tim McVeigh: Should He Die?
Should McVeigh receive the death penalty for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing? That's the question before the Denver jury who have just begun the sentencing phase of his trial.

June 4, 1997
Handle With Care
Director Louis Freeh appeared again before the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving an accounting of the FBI's activities across the board.

June 3, 1997
The Court Of Public Opinion
The jurors in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial will soon decide whether Timothy McVeigh should be executed or imprisoned. How has this case affected America's sense of justice?

June 3, 1997
Judging The System
What are the effects of the McVeigh trial on the public's faith in the judicial system?

June 2, 1997
A Debt Repaid?
Should convicted sex offenders be freed after serving their sentences?

June 2, 1997
McVeigh, 11 Counts: Guilty
Timothy McVeigh has been found guilty on all counts for planning and executing the explosion at the Oklahoma City Federal building that killed 168 people in 1995. He faces the death penalty.

MAY
May 30, 1997
Home Stretch
Closing arguments in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial place the remainder of the proceedings, and fate of Timothy McVeigh, in the jury's hands.

May 27, 1997
Jones vs. Clinton
The Paula Jones sexual harassment suit against the President may now proceed. The Supreme Court said Jones could sue, as long as the trial does not interfere with Presidential duties.

May 23, 1997
Bombing Trial Update
The defense begins its case in the Oklahoma City bombing trial with eyewitness testimony.

May 21, 1997
The Prosecution Rests
The prosecution took just 18 days to outline its case against Timothy McVeigh. Now the defense faces an up-hill battle proving that he was not behind the Oklahoma City bombing.

May 13, 1997
Bombing Trial Update
Court TV's Tim Sullivan discusses the testimony of Michael Fortier, a friend of defendant Timothy McVeigh and now the prosecution's star witness.

May 8, 1997
Fitting The Crime?
From 1985 to 1994, violent crimes committed by juveniles doubled. Thursday the House considered a measure to crackdown on those youths found guilty of crime.

May 6, 1997
Bombing Trial
The prosecution continues to lay out its case in the Oklahoma City bombing trial against Timothy McVeigh.

APRIL
April 30, 1997
Mental Illness In The Workplace
How much protection should employees with mental health issues be given in the work place?

April 25, 1997
Rethinking D.A.R.E
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, has been tried out in many schools across the country.

April 24, 1997
Opening Statements
After two years of legal maneuvering and anticipation, the trial of Oklahoma City bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh has begun in Denver.

April 21, 1997
Crime Drop
Betty Ann Bowser reports on the falling crime rate from Boston.

April 15, 1997
Separating Issue
The separation of church and state. The justices of the Supreme Court heard arguments in an education case from New York State.

April 9, 1997
Affirmative Action
A federal appeals court panel in San Francisco upheld the constitutionality of a California measure outlawing state affirmative action programs. The measure known as Proposition 209, was adopted by California voters last November.

April 3, 1997
Hanging Tough
Two years ago the Oklahoma City bombing brought much attention to the various anti-government, paramilitary organizations operating throughout the country. We have an update on the present state of the militia movement.

April 1, 1997
Doris Meissner
New and stricter immigration laws took effect despite efforts to delay their enactment. Meissner, Commissioner of the INS, explains the new regulations.

April 1, 1997
Defusing Terror
The Oklahoma City bombing trial underway in Denver has refocused attention on domestic terrorism. One city that has had more than its share of bomb attacks recently is Atlanta.

MARCH
March 19, 1997
Policing The Net
The Supreme Court explored cyberspace with the Communications Decency Act.

March 4, 1997
Good Citizens
Did election year politics play a role in the rules of citizenship?

March 3, 1997
Confession Controversy
Timothy McVeigh's lawyer accused The Dallas Morning News of "fraud, deception and theft" after it ran a story that McVeigh admitted guilt in the Oklahoma City bombing.

FEBRUARY
February 20, 1997
King Case Revisited
A Tennessee judge ruled that new technology could determine whether James Earl Ray's rifle killed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

February 19, 1997
Shouting's Okay
Two recent decisions were handed down by the Supreme Court involving the rights surrounding those involved in the abortion debate, the other is a case of religious freedom.

February 5, 1997
Oppression And Malice
The jury of the O.J. Simpson Civil Trial found that Simpson willfully and wrongfully caused the death of Ronald Goldman and that he committed battery with malice and oppression against Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.

JANUARY
January 28, 1997
Simpson Case Goes To Jury
The Simpson civil trial goes to the jury.

January 22, 1997
Abortion Politics
The 24th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion in Roe V. Wade.

January 15, 1997
Food Lyin'?
In the context of the Food Lion case involving undercover reporting of allegedly unsanitary food handling, journalistic practices are now on trial.

January 14, 1997
Mandatory Drug Testing
The Supreme Court is considering whether Georgia can require politicians to take a drug test before running for office. When are mandatory drug tests legal, and when do they trample on an individual's civil rights?

January 13, 1997
Clinton In Court?
The case of William Jefferson Clinton versus Paul Corbin Jones was before the Supreme Court Monday. Can the Judicial Branch require a sitting President to defend a private civil lawsuit based on alleged misconduct that occurred before he became President?

January 10, 1997
A Conversation With Deval Patrick
The man in charge of civil rights at the Justice Department is stepping down after almost three years of service. Patrick discusses affirmative actions, California's Proposition 209, fair lending, and race relations in America.

January 9, 1997
Policing The Police
When President Clinton announced that those convicted of domestic violence would be denied gun permits, most praised it as a beneficial step. But police departments have discovered an unexpected side effect, several officers have had to turn in their weapons under the new law.

January 8, 1997
The Ultimate Question
The Supreme Court is considering arguments over whether physicians may assist terminally ill patients in committing suicide.

January 8, 1997
High Court Analysis
Watching the Supreme Court hearing was NewsHour regular Stuart Taylor, correspondent for the American Lawyer and Legal Times.

January 7, 1997
Harassment And The Constitution
The Supreme Court heard arguments on a major sexual harassment case involving a former Tennessee state judge convicted of assaulting 5 women in his courthouse.

January 3, 1997
Crime Watch
Margaret Warner looks at a drop in murder rates.