Law & Policy

Image from How a 1944 Supreme Court Ruling on Internment Camps Led to a Reckoning
Video

How a 1944 Supreme Court Ruling on Internment Camps Led to a Reckoning

The U.S. government ordered 120,000 people of Japanese descent, most American citizens, imprisoned during World War II. An admission of wrongdoing and reparations payments came decades later, but a Supreme Court ruling had lasting impact.

Image from Can Race Be a Factor in College Admissions? SCOTUS Reconsiders Affirmative Action.
Video

Can Race Be a Factor in College Admissions? SCOTUS Reconsiders Affirmative Action.

The Supreme Court considers new arguments challenging admissions practices that colleges use to select a diverse student body.

Image from Facing Eviction
Video

Facing Eviction

Since the summer of 2020, we’ve documented the impact of the pandemic on housing and evictions. We followed tenants, landlords, lawyers, judges, sheriffs and social workers across the U.S. who were affected.

Image from Facing Eviction Trailer
Video

Facing Eviction Trailer

Since the summer of 2020, we’ve documented the impact of the pandemic on housing and evictions. We followed tenants, landlords, lawyers, judges, sheriffs and social workers across the U.S. who were affected. Facing Eviction airs on PBS Frontline on July 26 at 10/9c.

Image from How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees
Video

How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees

What obligation does the United States have toward people who are uprooted by war?

Image from Trump and Biden Both Want to Repeal Section 230. Would That Wreck the Internet?
Video

Trump and Biden Both Want to Repeal Section 230. Would That Wreck the Internet?

Today’s heated political arguments over censorship and misinformation online are rooted in a 26-word snippet of a law that created the Internet as we know it.

Image from The Domestic Violence Case That Turned Outrage Into Action
Video

The Domestic Violence Case That Turned Outrage Into Action

The ‘Burning Bed’ killing put domestic violence in the headlines.

Image from Racial Inequality Was Tearing the U.S. Apart, a 1968 Report Warned. It Was Ignored.
Video

Racial Inequality Was Tearing the U.S. Apart, a 1968 Report Warned. It Was Ignored.

Anger over policing and inequality boiled over in 1967 in protests and violence across the United States. A landmark report warned that without major changes, it would happen again.

Image from From Women’s Suffrage to the ERA, a Century-Long Push for Equality
Video

From Women’s Suffrage to the ERA, a Century-Long Push for Equality

The Equal Rights Amendment, proposed nearly 100 years ago, sparked debate from its very beginning, even among many of the women who had worked together for suffrage.

Image from Coronavirus Reignites a Fight Over Rights of Detained Migrant Children
Video

Coronavirus Reignites a Fight Over Rights of Detained Migrant Children

Migrant children in federal custody have tested positive for Covid-19, reopening a legal battle over the rights of children in custody.

Image from Do Whistleblower Protections Work? Ask This One.
Video

Do Whistleblower Protections Work? Ask This One.

A whistleblower case from 2010 reveals the peril faced by whistleblowers seeking to expose wrongdoing.

Image from Trump’s Immigration Rhetoric Echoes a Bitter Fight from the 90s
Video

Trump’s Immigration Rhetoric Echoes a Bitter Fight from the 90s

Today’s immigration policies echo an anti-immigration movement 25 years ago in California.

Image from Lingering Peril From Lead Paint
Video

Lingering Peril From Lead Paint

About half a million children have dangerously high lead levels in their blood, mostly from exposure to peeling paint and contaminated dust. The fight over who should clean it up has lasted for decades.

Image from DNA Clues Solve Crimes . . . With a Privacy Cost
Video

DNA Clues Solve Crimes . . . With a Privacy Cost

DNA information that is available on genealogy websites is doing more than satisfying curiosity – it’s solving crimes.

Image from Space Law: The Next Generation
Video

Space Law: The Next Generation

An international treaty laid out the basics of space law in 1967. But without a lot of case history to go on, lawyers today have looked to maritime law and Arctic exploration as they lay the groundwork for how space will be governed.

Image from The Roots of Evangelicals’ Political Fervor
Video

The Roots of Evangelicals’ Political Fervor

White evangelical Christians are among President Trump’s most important supporters. But more than 40 years ago, they were on the margins of American politics.

Image from Abortion Was Illegal. This Secret Group Defied the Law
Video

Abortion Was Illegal. This Secret Group Defied the Law

The Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion. We tell the story of the Jane Collective, which provided thousands of illegal abortions from 1969 to 1973.

Image from Why We Can't Have a Civil Conversation About Guns
Video

Why We Can't Have a Civil Conversation About Guns

In the 1980s, the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan and the shooting of his press secretary, Jim Brady, led to the Brady Bill. Decades later, are there lessons from that fight for the Parkland students?

Image from The Rise of SWAT: How Cops Became Soldiers
Video

The Rise of SWAT: How Cops Became Soldiers

As police have become more militarized, the role of SWAT teams has morphed – from use in emergency situations to fighting the drug war.

Image from Trump's Medicaid Positioning Echoes the Controversial Welfare Reform of the 90s
Video

Trump's Medicaid Positioning Echoes the Controversial Welfare Reform of the 90s

During his campaign, Donald Trump vowed not to cut to entitlements, but then reversed himself saying he would, and additionally would turn more control over to the states. We take a look at what happened to another entitlement, welfare, when the states took over.

Image from Forever Prison
Video

Forever Prison

Guantanamo Bay has become a symbol of the war on terror, but its story actually begins a decade before, when it was first used to detain thousands of Haitians outside the reach of U.S. law. This story was created in collaboration with NPR and PBS, FRONTLINE.

Image from Life After Welfare
Video

Life After Welfare

Twenty years ago, welfare reform was signed into law, promising needy families a path out of poverty. This is the story of Tianna Gaines-Turner, a former welfare recipient, who still struggles to make ends meet.

Image from Welfare and the Politics of Poverty
Video

Welfare and the Politics of Poverty

Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform was supposed to move needy families off government handouts and onto a path out of poverty. Twenty years later, how has it turned out?

Image from How Heroin Addiction's Rural Spread Changed the War on Drugs
Video

How Heroin Addiction's Rural Spread Changed the War on Drugs

From time to time over the past 40 years, efforts were made to treat heroin addiction as a public health instead of a crime problem. But they were not successful.

Image from How a Standoff with the Black Panthers Fueled the Rise of SWAT
Video

How a Standoff with the Black Panthers Fueled the Rise of SWAT

S.W.A.T. teams, specially trained police teams, have been used increasingly in routine matters like serving drug warrants, sometimes with disastrous results.

Image from From Crack Babies to Oxytots: Lessons Not Learned
Video

From Crack Babies to Oxytots: Lessons Not Learned

In the 1980s, many government officials, scientists, and journalists warned that the country would be plagued by a generation of “crack babies.” They were wrong. More than 25 years later, the media is sounding a similar alarm.

Image from Why Waco is Still a Battleground in the 2nd Amendment Debate
Video

Why Waco is Still a Battleground in the 2nd Amendment Debate

In 1993, federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and generated a legacy that continues to shape antigovernment groups today.

Image from E. Coli Outbreaks Changed Food Production, But How Safe Are We?
Video

E. Coli Outbreaks Changed Food Production, But How Safe Are We?

A 1993 E. coli outbreak linked Jack in the Box hamburgers sickened 700 people and acted as a wake up call about the dangers of food-borne illness. Decades later, how far have we really come in terms of food safety?

Image from Reintroducing Wolves to Yellowstone was a Success. That's When Trouble ​Began.
Video

Reintroducing Wolves to Yellowstone was a Success. That's When Trouble ​Began.

In the 1990s, the federal government reintroduced the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. It was considered a big success. And that’s when the real fight began.

Image from Her Vegetative State Caused Congress, President Bush and Even the Pope to Weigh In
Video

Her Vegetative State Caused Congress, President Bush and Even the Pope to Weigh In

The controversy over Terri Schiavo’s case elevated a family matter into a political battle that continues to frame end-of-life issues today.