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An Egyptian court has issued a mass death penalty sentence for 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In a 5-4 vote with vast repercussions for the U.S. criminal justice system, the Supreme Court invalidates the criminal sentencing system of Washington state. The court's ruling emphasizes the role of juries in determining sentences, and stirs speculation that the sentencing guidelines used by many states and the federal government won't be able to withstand a constitutional challenge. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports.

The Supreme Court decides to consider the constitutionality of federal sentencing guidelines. The court agreed to fast-track the case, since a related ruling this summer about state sentencing guidelines threw courts across the country into confusion. At issue is the power of judges to single-handedly adjust the length of criminals' sentences. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Douglas Berman, professor at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University

A new law takes effect Saturday that changes when people in New Hampshire prisons can apply to suspend part of their sentence.

Although the genre has acquired a trashy reputation, pulp fiction is full of language worth relishing, says Otto Penzler editor of The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps. Magazines that sold for just a few cents in the '20s killed excessive prose and gave us the hard-boiled detective that continues to fill pop culture today.

Punishment and Parole in Alabama Robert Siegel tells the story of Lewis Downs. Downs, an elderly church deacon, had an ongoing feud with a younger man- his neighbor, and Downs ends up killing him. Downs is sentenced to 20 years in prison-- but is up for parole after only three and half years served. This man is clearly no threat to society, but the victim's family is outraged. This piece raises many questions about what society believes about crime and about punishment.

A Marine was sentenced Wednesday for the murder of an Iraqi civilian in the village of Hamdania. Pvt. John Jodka could have been locked away for five years, but he received a reduced sentence of 18 months after agreeing to testify against the rest of his platoon's involvement in the crime.

More than a year and a half after an outbreak of Hepatitis C at Exeter Hospital first emerged, a traveling medical technician has been sentenced to nearly…

A 43-year-old Nashua man who’s been facing life in prison since he was a teenager is being re-sentenced this week.Eduardo Lopez Jr. was convicted of…

The rulings in Cairo confirm sentences against the ousted leader that were handed down this spring. NPR's Leila Fadel says "the cases have been criticized as show trials with fantastical accusations."