GREEN BAY - Wisconsin crime victims already have more rights than victims often get in other states, but a constitutional amendment would make that even stronger, advocates say. A handful of them, led by state Attorney General Brad Schimel, were at the Brown County Courthouse on Tuesday to stump for Marsy’s Law, a proposed change in the state’s constitution that Schimel said … [Read more...]

The discovery of 8-year-old Gizzell Ford's tortured body in a trash-strewn Chicago apartment set off a firestorm of shock, disgust and demands for change. Months after a judge ruled against the child's mother and placed Gizzell in her grandmother's home with her bedridden father, the straight-A student suffered horrific abuse while tied to a bedpost for days at a time, was denied food and … [Read more...]

One state legislator is again pushing a bill that would grant parents the legal right to see the expert evaluations judges use to decide custody and other cases. New York State Assembly Bill 1533 does not seem to ask for terribly much: The proposed legislation would grant parents in custody proceedings the legal right to see the court-ordered expert evaluations judges use to decide the fate of … [Read more...]

A 56-year-old man suspected of committing a quadruple murder was arrested on Friday, police said.    Salvador Vasquez-Oliva, 56, was taken into custody after a woman, her two children, and a niece, were found dead in Sacramento, California, on Thursday morning, KCRA reported. Hours later, a Vasquez-Oliva - believed to be the woman's husband, and the father of the two children - … [Read more...]

A Los Angeles County judge ruled Monday that four social workers should stand trial on child abuse and other charges in the death of an 8-year-old Palmdale boy they were assigned to protect, allowing prosecutors to push ahead with a case that has sent a chill through the ranks of child protection workers nationwide. Superior Court Judge Mary Lou Villar said that “red flags were everywhere” … [Read more...]