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The article reports that the issue of the costs of providing an adequate defense for criminal suspects facing capital punishment has slowed prosecution of such cases to a near halt in many U.S. states. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have emphasized the importance of defense counsel during capital trials. The case of Brian Nichols, who is accused of killing three persons in a Georgia courthouse in 2005, accounted for the state's entire budget for the public defender's office in 2007.

''Desperate Pets!'' read the headline of an online classified ad posted from Lee County, Fla., which is ranked first in the nation in home foreclosures. ''Please Help!'' begged a post from a pet owner in Carroll County, Ga., who said she had two dogs that would be homeless when her mother's home was foreclosed on in a few weeks. ''Our shelter has something like an 80 percent kill rate,'' the post said. ''I have exhausted every effort I know to find them a good home. No one wants a pregnant dog.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on a man named Timothy Elliot, who was sentenced by judge Richard Connon of Barnstable Superior Court in Massachusetts for violation of the terms of the probation agreement. The agreement required him to avoid gambling, purchase of lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted. The man was convicted of robbing banks so that he could buy scratch-off lottery tickets, the judge allowed him to keep the $1 million he won in the Massachusetts lottery.

The article focuses on a controversy concerning the division of Christ Church in Savannah, reportedly the first church established in Georgia. Among the congregation, 87 percent voted to split from the Episcopal diocese and join an Anglican diocese in Uganda. The rift has created two congregations, each claiming the name and assets of the church. The Diocese of Georgia filed a lawsuit in November 2007, to keep control of the church's assets resulting in a legal tangle.

The article reports that Genarlow Wilson, an African American convicted as a teenager for having consensual sex with a fellow teenager, has been released after spending two years in jail. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in favor of Wilson's release calling his ten year prison sentence grossly disproportionate to the crime. Critics have accused Wilson's prosecutors as being racially motivated for using a law meant to keep child molesters behind bars to curb teenage sexual activity.

The article reports that federal judge Henry T. Wingate has sentenced former Klansman James Seale to three life terms in prison in Mississippi. Seale was given life imprisonment for his role in the 1964 kidnapping and murder of two black teenagers, namely Henry H. Dee and Charles E. Moore. In 1964, a group of Klansmen including Seale, picked the two teenagers up and took them to a wooden area. The teenagers were beaten and their bodies were thrown into the Mississippi River.

The article reports that seven justices heard two appeals on behalf of Genarlow Wilson, who is serving 10-year sentence, at the Georgia Supreme Court in Atlanta, Georgia. Wilson is serving the sentence for having had consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a New Year's Eve party in 2003. He was convicted of child molestation, which was a felony in the state in 2003.

The article reports that a multiple-murder lawsuit involving rape suspect Brian Nichols has drained the budget of the public defender system of Georgia by costing $1.4 million. Nichols has been accused of escaping from a courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia and killing a judge, a court reporter and two other people. It is stated that the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council is unable to pay the three private lawyers on the defense team of Nichols.

The article reports that ex-Atlanta, Georgia, mayor William C. Campbell has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and one-year probation for convictions on three counts of tax evasion.

Reports on developments regarding social and political related issues in the U.S. Charges against the co-owner and a manager of a nut company in Oakdale; Decision of Patty Wetterling, a politician, to start campaigning for the Senate; Evacuation of several students from dormitories at Georgia Tech in Atlanta after bombs were found in a courtyard.

Presents several news on indictments, crimes and cases in the U.S.

The article reports on the apology offered by the Atlanta Falcons football quarterback, Michael Vick, for his association to a dogfighting ring. Vick formally pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy originating from a dogfighting kennel which was run from his property in Surry, Virginia. He has been suspended indefinitely without pay by National Football League Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Vick is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2007.

Harold Wenning, 69, remembers what he called ''the one-for-five trick'' from his days running a news kiosk in Midtown Manhattan. ''They'll say it's a five and give you a one,'' he said. ''I had a guy say it was a 20 once and he gave me a one. I had a guy buy a roll of quarters from me and he gave me a dollar. That happens.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]