James Holmes, the suspect in Friday’s movie-theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., is in custody, but police are still in the midst of investigating his home. The 24-year-old’s apartment is intricately rigged with explosives, according to CBS News. Police have been checking his apartment since Friday, when 12 were killed and dozens wounded at a midnight showing…

On her show MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry and her guests discussed voter disenfranchisement, particularly in terms of how states’ restrictions of the voting rights of felons affects the political process and the prison system. According to one guest, Glenn Martin, vice president of public affairs for the Fortune Society, recidivism is related to how disconnected…

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, a Web series chronicling the daily foibles of J, played by Issa Rae, is more than a comedy; it’s a study guide to steady media success. The New York Times argues that Rae’s series, now a part of producer Pharrell Williams’ IamOTHER YouTube channel, and its path to larger…

The Syrian conflict has been upgraded to a full-scale civil war by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The group says, according to USA Today, that the fighting has spread from three key areas and that now international humanitarian law applies, which grants, among other things, “parties to a conflict the right to use…

Actor Michael Clarke Duncan had a heart attack on Saturday and was rushed to a hospital, reports E! News. The Green Mile actor fell unconscious at his Los Angeles home and was resuscitated by his girlfriend, The Apprentice star Omarosa Stallworth, before being transferred to a hospital, according to TMZ. “According to doctors, Michael Clarke…

In Georgia, death-row prisoner Warren Hill is scheduled for execution on Wednesday but there’s a snag in the plan — his lawyers argue that he is mentally disabled. The Supreme Court passed a ruling, according to the Guardian, that bans the death sentence for inmates with learning difficulties. However, in the Peach State, an inmate…

Philadelphia MC Beanie Sigel, formerly associated with Jay-Z, and Nashville’s Young Buck, formerly associated with 50 Cent, were each sentenced to prison this week. Sigel, born Dwight Grant, was ordered to serve two years, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. U.S. District Judge Jan E. Dubois ordered the Philadelphia native to report to prison Sept. 12.…

As prosecutors began investigating former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky for sexual assault in 2011, the late head coach Joe Paterno took steps to protect himself and his family from the fallout. The same month he testified before a grand jury, Paterno began renegotiating his contract with the university, writes the New York Times.…

After a Mississippi law was passed last month that would essentially shutter the state’s only abortion clinic, a judge has granted the institution a reprieve. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the law originally required that all physicians at the clinic obtain admitting privileges at local hospitals, a difficult and lengthy process, or the clinic…

(The Root) — If the Essence Music Festival schedule had a time frame, no one told the Queen of Soul. Taking the stage at 10:30 p.m. Sunday at the Superdome in New Orleans, Aretha Franklin may not have been the closing Essence Music Festival 2012 act (Chaka Khan had that honor), but she delivered a set…