When a man’s head has been blown off with a shotgun, you’d expect there to be more of a mess. But a 12-gauge to the temple, at close range, can be surgically precise. I was a third-year law student, still in my 20s, when I learned that. Our clinic director…

The true story of a tragic club fire that never happened — “Stumpy’s gonna breathe fire.” “Do what?” “Yeah, Stumpy’s gonna breathe fire. On stage.” A long pause. We stare at the road. “What the fuck are you talking about?” “Well, we don’t exactly know how he’s gonna do it yet, but there’s that middle part in ‘Godzilla’ where it’s just drums…

I missed you in bed last night. If you had been there I would have shifted as I always do, so that your head could fit on my lap as I type, situating the weight of my arm along the back of your neck so that you know I am…

The GOP’s policy solution for post-Roe social chaos: create infant drop-off locations all over the country — Beyond the occasional mass shooting, now as unremarkable as a traffic jam or a tornado, there isn’t much Big News out of central Indiana. So when a baby was deposited in a box affixed to the Carmel Fire Department last month, it was Big News. It has thus far proved…

This is the question many of us are asking this morning, as we read what appears to be a frothmouthed Justice Alito’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade in a case styled Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The reproductive rights movement has been diligently planning for this, and those…

The last time I sued the Louisville Metro Jail, I got to question the former director extensively. He was a real character, sort of like if Jerry Bruckheimer and Vince McMahon co-conceived a tough-but-fair police chief for a movie about a heist at the Kentucky Derby or something. I asked…

Do you want to talk about criminal justice, world-class organizers, and full-time writing (when you’ve already got a full-time gig)? My new book Pleading Out: How Plea Bargaining Creates a Permanent Criminal Class will be officially released on March 8. In connection with the launch date, I’m doing a virtual…

Dear Joe: I have a book coming out on March 8, and I need a favor. The publisher has priced my book at $30.00. It turns out that a lot of people don’t have thirty extra bucks to spend on a book right now. So I’d like you to cancel…