The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld David Copeland's first-degree murder conviction for killing John Marshall in a parking lot on Dale Street in Roxbury on July 29, 2008.

The ruling means Copeland will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today a man convicted of deriving support from prostitution should have quit when he was behind and accepted his punishment, because he was caught pimping out two women and the law is pretty clear on that, even if it doesn't actually use the word "pimp." Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld Harold Parker's first-degree murder conviction for the 2001 murder of Io Nachtwey, a homeless woman from Hawaii who was stabbed and then beaten in the head with nunchucks before her body was dumped into the Charles from the Grand Junction railroad bridge over the Charles River. Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court today vacated George Ortega's conviction for the 2012 murder of Steven Fuentes on Leyland Street in Dorchester, saying the judge in the case should have should have pressed prosecutors more on their decision to try to exclude a black woman from the jury - and should have told the jury to consider whether Fuentes's death was a case of self defense. Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld the state's 111-year-old law against political contributions by companies to candidates for state and local offices, saying it is not only constitutional but a safeguard against political corruption. Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court today ordered a new trial for Anthony Robertson, convicted of fatally shooting Aaron Wornum in the head on Sumner Street in Dorchester on June 26, 2011, because the judge in the case failed to adequately consider whether the prosecution's rejection of two prospective jurors might have been racially biased. Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today there was nothing unconstitutional about a judge ordering a woman charged with stealing from a dog-walking client to pay for her heroin addiction to undergo drug tests as a condition of letting her go without any jail time - and then ordering her into in-patient treatment when she tested positive. Read more.

A state limit on how many times a company can call somebody to demand payment of a debt includes robo-calls made by automated dialers, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled today. Read more.

The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld a Texas native's conviction for illegal possession of an assault weapon and illegal possession of another gun, ruling that the Second Amendment still gives Massachusetts the right to ban assault weapons and regulate ownership of other guns. Read more.