WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It was just a few words and a joke at that. But Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke his seven-year long silence on Monday when he spoke at oral arguments.

(CNN) -- A California judge ruled Monday that a then 10-year-old boy committed second-degree murder -- and knew what he was doing was wrong -- when he fatally shot his father, a local neo-Nazi leader.

(CNN) -- "Practice makes perfect," or so the saying goes, and it was practice time in Washington on Sunday, one week ahead of Inauguration Day.

(CNN) -- A federal judge on Friday gave final approval to a settlement between BP and as many as 100,000 plaintiffs who allege they were sickened or injured by the 2010 Gulf oil disaster.

(CNN) -- Creating the office of the director of national intelligence in 2005 was meant to improve the management of the nation's intelligence gathering in the wake of 9/11, but it has often led to turf wars between national intelligence directors and directors of the CIA.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. and company officials have announced a probe of the design, manufacture and assembly of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the wake of a series of problems that have dogged the jet in recent days.

(CNN) -- A defense lawyer in a rape case that has roiled the town of Steubenville, Ohio, officially asked the court Friday for a change of venue.

(CNN) -- Two couples rooted in the American mainstream. Two spouses who were nearly killed by mentally ill gunmen. The comparisons are striking.

Planned Parenthood in Texas heads to federal court Friday, looking for a temporary injunction that would allow it to take part in the state's revamped Women's Health Program

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the military to begin implementing cost-cutting measures aimed at mitigating the risk of significant budget cuts should Congress fail to reach a deal in coming months to avert or soften them.