Dozens of Wisconsin municipalities have expanded the areas where convicted sex offenders are allowed to live after being released from prison.

Wisconsin's attorney general compared gay marriage to abortion on Wednesday in arguing that there was no fundamental right to it and state laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman were reasonable.

The Supreme Court's decision to hear a new case from Michigan on the politically charged issue of affirmative action offers an intriguing hint that the justices will not use a separate challenge already pending from Texas for a broad ruling bringing an end to the consideration of race in college admissions.

In a highly contentious argument that ran well past its allotted one hour on Wednesday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court clashed over the constitutionality of a university policy that considers race as a factor in admissions decisions.

The decision paves the way for the case, which has been winding its way through the federal courts, to be heard by the Supreme Court as early as next year.

A courtroom is a place where hardened lawyers make hard choices.

If a criminal defense attorney uses his peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors because of race or gender, he violates the Equal Protection Clause, the Rules of Professional Responsibility and provides ineffective assistance of counsel.