Some scholars and defense lawyers say that rap lyrics, which have played prominent roles in more than three dozen criminal prosecutions in the past two years, are being unfairly used to prejudice judges and juries who don’t understand that gangsta rappers are often people who have assumed fictional personas. So reports The New York Times.

The verdicts across the country in March ranged from stingy to strange.

A married mother of three is challenging the Virginia law that makes it illegal for her to enter school property or attend church services without seeking permission because of a sexual affair she had with a 16-year-old male 15 years ago. So reports the Associated Press.

As part of a recent crackdown on trusted corporate-deal players who leak market-moving information, the FBI last week arrested a Simpson Thacher & Bartlett law clerk and a Morgan Stanley broker on insider trading charges. So reports the New York Times’ Dealbook.