Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including a Dutch court upheld the ban on assisted suicide in the Netherlands; Environmental groups sued the Interior Department seeking sanctions against Mexico for failing to crack down on illegal fishing imperiling vaquita porpoises; Black home insurance policyholders brought a race discrimination case against State Farm, and more.

National

Environmentalists sue Interior Department in push to save critically endangered porpoise

Environmental groups sued the Interior Department on Wednesday seeking sanctions against Mexico for failing to crack down on illegal fishing imperiling vaquita porpoises, whose population in the Gulf of California has declined from around 600 in the late 1990s to just 10.

A pair of critically endangered vaquita porpoises swim in the Gulf of California in 2018. (Oscar Ortiz/Museo de la Ballena y Ciencias del Mar via AP)

State Farm accused of making it harder for Black customers to get payouts

Black home insurance policyholders brought a federal class action against State Farm on Wednesday morning, alleging the multibillion-dollar company subjects their claims to greater scrutiny than it does those of white clients.

The State Farm insurance building in Markham, Illinois. (Raysonho/Wikimedia Commons via Courthouse News)

Shareholders seek to revive securities fraud class action against Tupperware

An attorney for a class of Tupperware shareholders asked an 11th Circuit panel on Wednesday to overturn a lower court’s decision to dismiss a securities fraud action claiming that a Mexico-based division of the corporation faked sales data to artificially inflate the stock.

The exterior of the U.S. Courthouse for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia. (Mike Stewart/AP)

Danske Bank hit with $2B fraud penalty

Resolving a fraud investigation with a commitment to pay $2 billion, Denmark’s biggest bank admitted that it lied to American banks about its customers and anti-money laundering controls.

Denmark´s capital Copenhagen seen from above. (Thomas Villars Petersen/LLO)

Regional

Texas jury begins deliberations in murder trial of ex-cop who killed Black homeowner

A Texas jury began deliberations Wednesday in the murder trial of former police officer Aaron Dean after defense attorneys argued that Atatiana Jefferson lost the right to defend herself in her home when she pointed a gun at him.

Former police officer Aaron Dean arrives to the 396th District Court in Fort Worth, Texas on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, for the first day of his murder trial in the killing of Atatiana Jefferson. (Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP, Pool)

International

In Netherlands, where euthanasia is legal, assisted suicide still taboo

A Dutch court upheld the ban on assisted suicide in the Netherlands on Wednesday, citing the government’s obligation to protect vulnerable people.

Men and women take their hats off in The Hague, Netherlands, on Oct. 10, 2022, to show respect for people who took their own lives. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Denmark forms broad coalition government after long negotiations

Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday proudly presented a new cabinet in collaboration with the Liberals, marking the first time in decades that the two political wings have united.

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, May 24, 2021. European Union leaders are expected, during a two day in-person meeting, to focus on foreign relations, including Russia and the UK. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, Pool)

Anti-monarchy activists argue for removal of Dutch king from legal system

An anti-monarchy organization told judges in The Hague on Wednesday that the role the Dutch king has in the country’s judicial system violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

Portrait of Dutch King Willem-Alexander that hangs in official government buildings. (Koos Breukel/RVD)

Categories / Closing Arguments

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.