Robbie liked pretending to be a dinosaur, and could read chapter books by kindergarten. His mother remembers the 7-year-old as "super sweet" and "attention-getting goofy." William, 5, was mom's "rough and tumble." He was "loud and intense." Happy. Both are gone. Their father killed them, according to the local sheriff. "I am a very private person living through a … [Read more...]

A student at the Sacred Heart Greenwich was found dead at her residence in Pound Ridge, N.Y., Friday morning. Caroline Dym was set to enter her senior year this fall at the private school off King Street. She was a stand-out on the school’s golf team. According to New York State Police, Caroline was killed by her father, Steven Dym. [Read Full Article] … [Read more...]

Are California’s judges above public accountability? The state Commission on Judicial Performance, which disciplines judges for misconduct, wants us to think they aren’t. The reality, though, appears quite different. The commission, commonly called CJP, is fighting to keep most of its disciplinary decisions secret. Pressed by judicial reform advocates who have long claimed that wayward … [Read more...]

The panel responsible for judging California’s judges appears all too eager to avoid being judged itself. In a year-old dispute heard in San Francisco Superior Court last week, State Auditor Elaine Howle’s office has asked for Commission on Judicial Performance case records to conduct its first audit of the half-century-old body. The commission has refused, arguing that its … [Read more...]

Judge Linda Reade’s husband bought more prison stock five days before one of the nation’s biggest immigration raids. It was almost lunchtime inside the country’s largest kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, on May 12, 2008. The meatpackers, mostly migrants from Guatemala and Mexico, wore earplugs to block out the noise of the machinery and couldn’t hear the two black helicopters … [Read more...]