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Jury instructions are a central part of any criminal trial.

For more than 15 years, Wisconsin courts have operated under the “truth in sentencing” model.

Attorney General Brad Schimel has announced his plan to ask the Legislature for millions more dollars to hire more prosecutors throughout the state.

The Netflix series “Making a Murderer” has garnered national attention. The episodes are compelling, largely because Steven Avery was wrongly convicted of rape, having served 18 years in prison for that crime.

In her State of the Judiciary Address, Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Pat Roggensack promised that she will fight for higher judicial salaries when the Legislature begins work on the state’s next budget.

Under Wisconsin law, a 17-year-old is considered an “adult” for the purpose of criminal prosecution.

In recent years, some of the biggest cases before the United States Supreme Court have dealt with how Fourth Amendment protections should apply in modern circumstances.

Americans are over-legislated, a fact that partly explains why we incarcerate more people than any other country on the planet.

America has 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of its prisoners. As a society, we should have the courage to recognize that doubling down on a failed system is not a means of making our communities safer.

Of the 1.6 million military members who are now veterans, about 670,000 have been deemed to have a disability that is connected to their military service.

It’s that time of year when social media becomes flooded with pictures and posts from new law school graduates, all who will soon embark on different careers.

By state law, probation must be the first consideration at sentencing. Because of this, and because many everyday crimes do not warrant incarceration, thousands of defendants are placed on probation every year in Wisconsin.

There is nothing that harms the integrity of the criminal justice system more than a rogue officer planting evidence.

Gov. Scott Walker’s recently unveiled biennial budget proposal outlines a measure to create “conflict offices” that would result in the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office retaining more criminal cases.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced the immediate termination of “equitable sharing,” a civil-asset forfeiture program run by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The adage that prosecutors can “indict a ham sandwich” has been called into question recently, when grand juries declined to prosecute officers involved in the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York.

The theme of Franz Kafka’s book, “The Trial,” resonates as strongly today as ever. Prosecutors have amassed powers and tools that were inconceivable even a generation ago.

A prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney, William Buckman, committed suicide in a hotel room Oct. 14.

Justice Antonin Scalia has been the target of considerable invective, largely because of his support for the death penalty.

It has become common knowledge that a Ferguson, Mo., police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black man.

In a rare unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Riley v. California that police must secure a warrant before searching a cellphone owned by a criminal suspect.

In the past decade, there have been a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment,” as it applies to juvenile defendants.

In the 1980s, America faced a crack cocaine epidemic.

Few motions in criminal cases cause more confusion than those based on a court’s inherent authority.

Criminal defense attorneys have few tools they can use to learn about the prosecution’s case.

Under Wisconsin law, certain young offenders are entitled to have their criminal conviction expunged from their record.

There is a crisis in this country. Considerable numbers of otherwise good people have become addicted to opiates.

In 1993, the Wisconsin Constitution was amended to give crime victims certain privileges.

Since he was elected governor, Scott Walker has not appointed a single person to Wisconsin’s Pardon Advisory Board.

Every day, in criminal trials throughout the state, juries are instructed as follows: “If you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the [elements of the crime] have been proved, you should find the defendant guilty. If you are not so satisfied, you must find the defendant not guilty.”