Crime Southern United States

The tall man wearing a silk top hat and black mourning suit peered through the massive wrought-iron gate into the darkness. A candle flickered in the old-fashioned lantern grasped in his left hand. "Welcome to Laurel Grove Cemetery," he solemnly intoned to 40 people exiting their tour bus and approaching the gate. After lifting the heavy latch, the man turned and hoisted his lantern into the air as a beacon for the crowd to follow.

The tall man wearing a silk top hat and black mourning suit peered through the massive wrought-iron gate into the darkness. A candle flickered in the old-fashioned lantern grasped in his left hand. "Welcome to Laurel Grove Cemetery," he solemnly intoned to 40 people exiting their tour bus and approaching the gate. After lifting the heavy latch, the man turned and hoisted his lantern into the air as a beacon for the crowd to follow.

People arrested on felony charges in the South are more than twice as likely to face court prosecution and conviction than those elsewhere in the United States, the Justice Department said Friday. For every 1,000 felony arrests in the South, there were 143 convictions, the department said. That compares with an annual conviction rate of 58 per 1,000 in the West, 60 in the Northeast and 78 in the Midwest.

People arrested on felony charges in the South are more than twice as likely to face court prosecution and conviction than those elsewhere in the United States, the Justice Department said Friday. For every 1,000 felony arrests in the South, there were 143 convictions, the department said. That compares with an annual conviction rate of 58 per 1,000 in the West, 60 in the Northeast and 78 in the Midwest.