Tucson’s Rep. Daniel Patterson wants the House Ethics Committee to hold a full hearing on the myriad allegations levied against him by fellow lawmakers, staff and lobbyists.

A report showing potent chemicals are in nail care products that claim to be toxin-free is prompting a state senator to call for reforms, and the state attorney general’s office is reviewing the findings.

Minority Republicans in the House won’t try to stop the inevitable when debate starts Wednesday afternoon on the repeal of the state’s death penalty.

Stung by public reaction to judges who lobbied state lawmakers into a $50 million courthouse many have dubbed a “Taj Mahal,” the Florida Supreme Court has established new rules that would muzzle individual judges who try to have their way with the Legislature.

State officials are working on ways to curb the black market and excessive use of hydrocodone and other addictive painkillers, including more aggressive monitoring of prescriptions and stricter penalties to prevent abuse.

A lawsuit against the state and two trade organizations by Florida’s ousted long-term care ombudsman is getting a court hearing.

Term limits that Broward voters imposed on county commissioners a dozen years ago are teetering on the edge of a legal argument now, as the Florida Supreme Court considers whether to throw them out.

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens will speak to the CSRA Republican Women’s Club meeting on Monday.

Four inmates on Idaho’s death row are suing the state, contending Idaho’s new execution procedures give too much power to prison officials, create a risk of severe pain and would allow unqualified workers to carry out medical procedures.

A federal grand jury has formally indicted Illinois state Rep. Derrick Smith on a bribery charge.

Indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith is talking with fellow lawmakers through email alone, said a member of the House panel appointed to look into federal bribery allegations against Smith.

Defense attorneys are asking a Kansas judge to dismiss the remaining criminal charges against a Planned Parenthood clinic accused of performing illegal abortions, saying the allegations stem merely from differing medical opinions about how such procedures should be handled.

Ky. Gov. Steve Beshear told a drug summit Tuesday that the 50 states need to link their prescription drug monitoring programs if the nation is going crack down on pill mills and painkiller abuse.

A convicted drug dealer — who cops said wanted to use cash from his taxpayer-funded EBT card to post bail — is the new face of welfare abuse, according to tough-minded lawmakers who are pushing the reform-resistant Patrick administration for a crackdown.

Former Boston Police Department Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole is returning to the Hub as a consultant to the state’s powerful new gaming commission, which held a four-hour first meeting yesterday.

A lawsuit challenging how Missouri awarded more than $1.1 billion in Medicaid contracts is scheduled to be heard in court this week amid allegations of political favoritism, and now the issue could become the focus of a legislative inquiry.

An amended bill passed in the Mississippi House Tuesday equates abortion of a fetus with a detectable heartbeat to child homicide.

Senators still support efforts to limit Attorney General Jim Hood’s power to hire outside lawyers.

A district judge may have broken Montana’s code of judicial conduct when he wrote a letter soliciting donations for another judge who is running for a seat on the state Supreme Court.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said it was “disturbing.” Newark Mayor Cory Booker described it as a major civil rights violation.

The guys in the robes played referee to political competitors Tuesday, saying no harm, no foul to nearly a dozen candidates who forgot to list the district for which they were running on nominating petitions.

New Mexico’s highest court ruled Tuesday that the Senate’s top leader and other candidates can appear on the ballot despite incomplete election paperwork.

The challenge to Nevada’s anti-gay marriage constitutional provision was inevitable — if not from the law’s inception, then at least from February, when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a similar ban in California.

Authorizing robot cameras to photograph red-light runners and mail out traffic tickets to vehicle owners — sometimes months after the event — is a proposal that regularly resurfaces at the Nevada Legislature. Proponents tout the prospect of fewer accidents.

A national gay rights advocacy group took its state-by-state fight for same-sex marriage equality to a federal court for the first time Tuesday, filing a lawsuit to force Nevada to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York State attorney general, is creating a bureau to investigate criminal cases across the state in which convictions have been called into question.

Oklahoma’s attorney general and a utility jointly are asking an appeals court to temporarily block a rule aimed at reducing pollutant emissions from three Northeastern Oklahoma power plants.

Anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore has filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages from more than 50 parties — including the state of Oregon, the current and former attorney general, two teachers unions and a judge who oversaw a previous case — for a laundry list of injustices.

The Portland woman blew into a tube on the newly installed electronic device in her car until an indicator box was filled with green. In a moment, her blood-alcohol level — 0.000 — flashed on the screen.

The judicial showdown over the state’s new natural gas drilling law begins this morning in Commonwealth Court, where municipal officials will be making their case as to why the statute’s provisions regarding zoning rules and chemical confidentiality are unconstitutional.

The House wrapped up work on its legislative district map Tuesday with lots of backstage huddles but little public debate, sending a bill to the Senate that could end up challenged in court.

Gov. Scott Walker said Monday he plans to revive a proposal to require police to collect DNA samples from suspects upon arrest in at least some felony and sex cases in his next state budget.

A state court order that barred abortion protesters from appearing at Jackson’s town square last year violated the protesters’ constitutional rights, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.