Life of the Law

Series produced by Life of the Law

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A podcast offering documentary stories and investigations of people's relationship to the law.

Life of the Law publishes a new, unique episode every other Tuesday morning on our website - www.lifeofthelaw.org, Panoply, iTunes and on most podcast apps.

Investigative reports
Audio diaries
Live storytelling events (recorded)
In-Studio discussions


127 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Life of the Law #20 - Justices on the Move
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
Caption: Early Supreme Court justices, including the Chief Justice, spent much of the year traveling as circuit judges in the federal court system., Credit: Public Domain
In the early days of the United States, Supreme Court justices did double duty, spending much of their time riding circuit as judges on lower court...

Bought by KISU, WEZU, and New Hampshire Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 13, 2013
  • Length: 12:24
  • Purchases: 3
Life of the Law #19 - Judging Steinbeck's Lennie
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
Caption: Author John Steinbeck in 1962, the year he won the Nobel Prize in Literature., Credit: Creative Commons
In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute people with mental disabilities. But the Court left it up to individual sta...

Bought by KPIK-LP and PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 13, 2013
  • Length: 14:32
  • Purchases: 2
Life of the Law #18 - Forensics in Flames
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
Caption: Stills from a video made of the Lime Street Fire experiment. In four minutes, it went from a couch on fire to a room on fire, Credit: Video courtesy of John Lentini
Over the past 20 years, there’s been a revolution in the science of arson investigations. Many of the clues that had been used for decades to deter...

Bought by KMUZ, WJCT, and KALW


  • Added: Jul 23, 2013
  • Length: 16:26
  • Purchases: 3
Life of the Law #17 - Redefining Rape (Explicit)
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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(This episode contains explicit language) Most of us have an idea of what the crime of rape is. But the legal meaning of the word rape varies wide...

  • Added: Jul 11, 2013
  • Length: 15:58
Life of the Law #16 - Call NOW!
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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When things go bad, all you need to do is pick up the phone and CALL. Or so the late-night ads on basic cable tell us. Since the US Supreme Court a...

Bought by Room Tone Selects, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, KPIK-LP, WJCT, Georgia Public Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Jun 26, 2013
  • Length: 21:45
  • Purchases: 6
Life of the Law #15 - New Frontiers of Family Law
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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Today, fewer than 50 percent of American families are married. Half of the Unites States is in a non-traditional, non-nuclear family. What do these...

Bought by KVNF and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 26, 2013
  • Length: 15:18
  • Purchases: 2
Life of the Law #14 - An Architect's Code
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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In its code of ethics, the American Institute of Architects requires members to “uphold human rights.” But what does that mean when it comes to pri...

  • Added: Jul 31, 2013
  • Length: 17:04
Life of the Law #13 - A Life on the Bench
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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What does it take to become a judge? No one starts their legal career as a jurist. First they work as a lawyer advocating for one side of a case ov...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: May 11, 2013
  • Length: 13:25
  • Purchases: 1
Life of the Law #12 - Games and Law
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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Online, multi-player games create addictive, all-encompassing competitive worlds for players. But sometimes, players disturb the fantasy with abusi...

Bought by XRAY.fm, KALW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 11, 2013
  • Length: 12:55
  • Purchases: 3
Life of the Law #11 - Without Means
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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More than 30,000 people died by guns in 2011 in the US. Of those, close to 20,000 died by suicide. Many still do not make a connection between gun ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: May 11, 2013
  • Length: 10:30
  • Purchases: 1
Life of the Law #10 - Dibs!
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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After a big snowstorm, the streets of many northern cities start to get cluttered with furniture. Why? Because of “dibs,” the practice of claiming ...

Bought by KPIK-LP and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 11, 2013
  • Length: 12:34
  • Purchases: 2
Life of the Law #09 - Reporter on Death Row
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
Caption: Carmen Ward has been an inmate in San Quentin’s Adjustment Center for seven years, Credit: Nancy Mullane
What do we really know about death row in California? When we don’t know we create, we imagine.

Bought by Georgia Public Broadcasting and PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 21, 2013
  • Length: 27:37
  • Purchases: 2
Life of the Law #08 - Redesigning Justice
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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Red Hook is an isolated neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, once known as the “crack capital of America.” In 2000, residents banded together to create a ...

Bought by WDBM, KALW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 21, 2013
  • Length: 11:48
  • Purchases: 3
Life of the Law #07 - Felony Factory
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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You’ve just been arrested, charged with a felony and can’t afford to pay your bail, let alone hire a lawyer. You know you have the right to a trial...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 21, 2013
  • Length: 13:00
  • Purchases: 1
Life of the Law #06 - Block Boss (Explicit)
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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On every city block, there are rules. Some are unspoken, some require friendly reminders, some are enforced by the law. Is it ever OK to break the ...

  • Added: Jul 31, 2013
  • Length: 12:16
Life of the Law #05 - Tough Crowd
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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Is the law ever a laughing matter? We present to you a brief history of attempted comedy in the toughest room in the country—the Supreme Courtroom.

Bought by KALW


  • Added: Mar 21, 2013
  • Length: 12:16
  • Purchases: 1
Life of the Law Shorts #23 - Of Prison and Pregnancy
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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The United States incarcerates six times as many women as it did thirty years ago. Many of these women are already mothers, and four percent of inc...

Bought by KRZA, XRAY.fm, and New Hampshire Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 30, 2013
  • Length: 04:40
  • Purchases: 3
Life of the Law #04 - Law in Translation
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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Vietnamese fishing communities are still finding themselves grounded by the BP oil spill, one of the largest environmental disasters of the century...

Bought by KALW and PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 22, 2013
  • Length: 10:20
  • Purchases: 2
Life of the Law #03 - Two Sides of A River
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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The riverbank is a public space open for everyone. But people do not always agree on how to best spend a hot summer day.

Bought by KMUZ and PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 13, 2012
  • Length: 16:17
  • Purchases: 2
Life of the Law #02 - Jailhouse Lawyers
From: Life of the Law
Series: Life of the Law
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In California, there are hundreds if not thousands of people practicing criminal law though they’ve never passed a bar exam. They don’t wear suits....

Bought by KALW and PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 12, 2012
  • Length: 14:10
  • Purchases: 2

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