As states across the country are dealing with a budget crisis, some in Oklahoma are pointing to what has become a financial nightmare: the rate of female incarceration. Oklahoma puts more women behind bars than any other state. And at the annual cost of $15,000 per inmate, incarceration has become a top budgetary concern.

Every day, nearly 7,000 people in America die. And when the deaths are unexpected, sudden or suspicious, it’s presumed that a thorough investigation will take place.

Though you might expect a thorgough and high-level investigation from TV shows like CSI, the reality is quite different. In over 1,300 counties across the United States, elected coroners are in charge of death investigations — many with no medical or scientific background. To run for coroner in most counties, all you need is a high school diploma.

On Sept. 15, Ohio death row inmate Kevin Keith is scheduled to be executed, unless his defense team can get clemency granted to their client before then. Keith was convicted of murdering three people in February of 1994. He maintains he is innocent, has alibis who confirm his story, and some question the testimony delivered by the key eyewitness. His execution, plus another scheduled to take place today in Ohio, would put that state on track for having the second most executions this year, after Texas. 

But cases like Keith's have prompted several high-level officials to call for a comprehensive review of Ohio's death row cases.

A federal judge has overturned Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.  The measure passed with 52 percent of votes in November 2008. Yesterday, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled it unconstitutional on 14th Amendment grounds of due process and equal protection under the law. 

In a decision that ran more than 100 pages, Judge Vaughn Walker stated that "Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples."

In a surprising move, ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich decided he would not testify in his corruption trial. Rob Wildeboer, criminal justice reporter for Chicago Public Radio, believes this was a wise move on Blagojevich's part. "I don't know what he could say to convince jurors about those tapes," he told The Takeaway. The defense strategy has shifted from putting Blagojevich on the stand to trying to prove that the government's case is too weak to find Blagojevich guilty.