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The Two-Way
3:36 am
Tue October 2, 2012

Brain-Damaged Man Wins New Trial In Two-Decades-Old Killing

Originally published on Tue October 2, 2012 1:08 pm

Richard Lapointe confessed in 1989 that he stabbed, raped and killed his wife's 88-year-old grandmother two years earlier. But in the 23 years since, experts in criminal justice have come to better understand how sometimes people make false confessions — especially someone with brain damage, like Lapointe. On Monday, Connecticut's state Appellate Court ordered a new trial, saying prosecutors wrongly withheld potentially important evidence.

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It's All Politics
3:35 am
Tue October 2, 2012

In North Carolina, Latino Voters Could Be Crucial To Winning The State

Credit Logan Mock-Bunting / Getty Images
A sign directs voters to polls at a polling station on Nov. 4, 2008, in Shallotte, N.C.

Originally published on Tue October 2, 2012 1:24 pm

In this year's presidential campaign, $11 million has been spent so far on ads targeting Hispanics, according to ad-tracking firm Kantar Media/CMAG.

That's eight times the amount spent four years ago on Spanish-language ads, and it's focused in just a handful of battleground states: Florida, Nevada, Colorado and, perhaps most surprisingly, North Carolina.

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U.S.
3:32 am
Tue October 2, 2012

Both Candidates Leave God Off The Campaign Trail

Originally published on Tue October 2, 2012 1:33 pm

Religion used to be everywhere in the presidential elections. George W. Bush courted conservative believers in 2004. In 2008, Sarah Palin excited evangelicals and — unexpectedly — so did Barack Obama.

What a difference a few years make. In 2007, then-candidate Obama used evangelical language to describe his Christian conversion: He was a young, secular community organizer who occasionally visited the local Chicago church, when one day he walked to the front of the sanctuary and knelt before the cross.

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Around the Nation
6:20 pm
Mon October 1, 2012

Ole Miss Students Look Back At Integration

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 8:22 pm

Fifty years ago, James Meredith, the first black student at the University of Mississippi, had to be escorted by federal marshals to his mostly empty classes. His enrollment came after a standoff between state segregationists and the federal government that led to a deadly riot on the Oxford campus.

Today, black and white juniors and seniors at Ole Miss sit together around a table in an Honors College class on the school's turbulent history. The course is called "Opening the Closed Society," and is an in-depth look at the integration of Ole Miss.

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It's All Politics
5:08 pm
Mon October 1, 2012

Outside Money Defining Montana Senate Showdown

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 6:23 pm

Republicans are still within reach of a big political goal this year: retaking control of the Senate. They lost the majority in 2006, in part because of the razor-close victory of Democratic challenger Jon Tester in Montana.

Now, Tester is the incumbent facing a tough challenge of his own. And if he's going to win re-election, he has to turn out a lot of younger voters, the way he did in 2006. And on that front, he does have some allies.

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Around the Nation
5:01 pm
Mon October 1, 2012

Plague Of Crickets Brings Nuisance, Stink To Waco

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 7:47 pm

Audie Cornish speaks with Scott Halvorson, manager of Drug Emporium, about the cricket problems he's having at his business in Waco, Texas, this year. Moist, mild conditions last winter have resulted in something resembling a cricket plague. Member station KWBU assisted with the sound for this story.

Around the Nation
5:01 pm
Mon October 1, 2012

California Bans 'Gay-To-Straight' Therapy For Minors

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 6:20 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And now to California where Governor Jerry Brown has signed a first-in-the nation law. It bans mental health professionals from trying to change the sexual orientation of those under the age of 18. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates has details.

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Around the Nation
4:57 pm
Mon October 1, 2012

Fight Erupts Over 'Plan B' Access In New York Schools

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 6:20 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Now to a story about one way New York City is trying to reduce teen pregnancy. School nurses are giving out more than just condoms. At 13 high schools, students can get the morning after pill without a prescription and without notifying their parents. And that does not sit well with some parents, as NPR's Joel Rose reports.

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Presidential Race
4:54 pm
Mon October 1, 2012

Stakes High For Romney At First Presidential Debate

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 6:20 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

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Law
4:47 pm
Mon October 1, 2012

High Court Takes Up Human Rights On First Day Back

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 7:19 pm

The U.S. Supreme Court opened a new term on Monday, and the first case argued was a major human-rights controversy.

The case was brought by 12 Nigerians granted political asylum in the United States. They sued Shell oil, which is based in the Netherlands and the U.K., for allegedly conspiring with the Nigerian government in the torture and killing of Nigerians who protested that their property was being taken without compensation for oil exploration and that the countryside was being despoiled.

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