Nearly 20 years ago Clarence Aaron was sentenced to three life terms for his involvement in a drug deal. His request to have his sentence shortened was denied by the White House in 2008. Now a story by ProPublica's Dafna Linzer reports the Bush administration was not told key facts before deciding on it. Host Michel Martin speaks with Linzer.

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At the perjury trial of pitching great Roger Clemens Tuesday, a judge sent a jury member home after saying she was "obviously sleeping." She's the second juror to fall asleep and be ordered to leave.

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A ruling this week by a federal appeals court means non-profit groups running one type of political campaign ad will no longer be able to keep their donors secret. The appellate order, however, could be appealed.

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This could be the last day of testimony in the John Edwards trial. Edwards was a rising star in the Democratic Party until an extramarital affair derailed his political ambitions. He's charged with accepting secret payments of almost a million dollars to cover up the affair and pregnancy.

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As of now, nonprofit groups that want to run campaign ads within two months of the general election will have to reveal the names of their donors. That's because a federal appeals court refused to stay a lower court's ruling on the matter. A full appeal could be heard this fall.

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The trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards continued Tuesday in North Carolina. Edwards is accused of accepting almost a million dollars in secret payments to cover up an affair with his pregnant mistress. North Carolina Public Radio's Jeff Tiberii talks to Melissa Block about the case.

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The New York City Police Department credits its controversial "Stop, Question, Frisk" program with significantly reducing violent crimes. Many civil liberties groups, though, warn that the police stops disproportionately target black and Hispanic men, and believe the searches are unconstitutional.

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The conservative group that helped spread Florida's Stand Your Ground gun law across the country holds a closed-door issues conference in Charlotte on Friday. On its agenda is legislation that would prevent a state's attorney general from pursuing lawsuits except as authorized by the state legislature. Peter Overby is at the conference and talks with Audie Cornish.

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Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are deadlocked over or whether to discipline one of their own. The state Judicial Council has accused one of them of violating the ethics code by putting one of his colleagues in a chokehold during an argument over a controversial ruling. But all the justices watched it happen so how can they be impartial judges in the matter? One justice has already recused herself. The aggressor and the victim can't sit on the case. If one more Justice does that, then there can't be a quorum.

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The Department of Justice has announced it is suing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio because of civil rights violations. He became a controversial figure for his tough stance on immigrants. Arpaio says he will not surrender his office and will fight the suit.

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Two police officers from Fullerton, Calif., will stand trial in the death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man who died from injuries sustained during a violent arrest in July 2011. Thomas' death, and his father's relentless quest to prosecute the officers, has shocked the Orange County town.

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The Justice Department is suing Arizona's most controversial sheriff on civil rights violations. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is being charged with racial profiling of motorists, mistreatment of inmates and retaliation against his critics.

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The president and his re-election team are clearly wagering that his support for same-sex marriage will attract more voters than it repels — and allow him to make the choice between himself and Mitt Romney even sharper.

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The Florida Board Bar of Examiners requires all applicants to have valid citizenship or immigration papers. Jose Godinez-Samperio, who has no such papers, was granted a waiver to sit for the bar exam in 2011. He passed, but now the bar says it will admit him only with approval from the state Supreme Court.

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The Florida Board Bar of Examiners requires all applicants to have valid citizenship or immigration papers. Jose Godinez-Samperio, who has no such papers, was granted a waiver to sit for the bar exam in 2011. He passed, but now the bar says it will admit him only with approval from the state Supreme Court.

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Will the administration's health law survive the Supreme Court? A majority of bettors think not. Over at Intrade, a "prediction market" for current events, the betting gave chances of about 58 percent that the court will disallow the mandate.

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If lawmakers can't come to an agreement, the federal Stafford loan interest rate will jump from 3.4 to 6.8 percent on July 1, adding an average of $1,000 to the cost of a year of college. Students from across the country visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to ask Congress to keep that from happening.

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The state of Texas has moved to block public funds for Planned Parenthood because the organization refers patients to abortion providers and advocates for abortion rights. Planned Parenthood says the rule violates the nonprofit's constitutional rights to free association and free speech.

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About 40 percent of American children are born to unmarried parents, and many of those parental relationships dissolve before the child reaches kindergarten. A county in Minnesota has created a Co-Parenting Court to help these typically very young and low-income parents stay involved.

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The alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and four other men had a contentious day in a military commission arraignment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston tells host Rachel Martin what happened.

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