Uncategorized

Top CNS stories for today including a Russian national being charged for her alleged role in a conspiracy to interfere in the U.S. political system, including the upcoming 2018 midterm election; President Donald Trump orders federal agencies to speed up environmental reviews and jumpstart major water projects in California and the Pacific Northwest; the Fifth Circuit finds Texas’ understaffed foster care system often fails to investigate children’s reports of sexual abuse, but a federal judge went too far in mandating a cap of 17 children per caseworker; California’s 19 million voters are set to decide a slate of midterm ballot measures aimed at easing the state’s affordable-housing crisis, but not all initiatives may bring residents the relief they seek; the European Court of Justice rules Poland must stop enforcing a new law that pushed some judges on its highest court into early retirement and reinstate the ones that have already been forced out, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including lawsuits piling up against state elections officials in Georgia just weeks before a historic election; in the state; the constitutionality of several Kentucky campaign finance laws is debated before the Sixth Circuit panel;a panel of New York appeals court judges considera whether President Donald Trump can be held in contempt for refusing to be deposed in a defamation case brought by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos; the Ninth Circuit is told a jury should decide whether to hold McDonald’s liable for violating California’s wage and hour laws; a new study suggests that while Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci excelled in various fields of art and science, his perception of the world may have been altered due to an eye condition; French far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon faces a deepening probe into allegations of improperly using European Parliament funds to pay campaign workers, and possible charges of intimidation and violence after his hot-headed response to raids on his Paris home and party headquarters, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Fourth Circuit defending herself amid questions about her relatively limited legal experience; prosecutors preparing to dismiss 10 deadlocked charges in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s bank and tax fraud trial this August; the Trump administration threatens to ask the Supreme Court to review an injunction protecting some 700,000 young immigrants from deportation; a panel of seven Colorado Supreme Court justices hear arguments regarding the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s role in considering the industry’s impact on human health when issuing permits; a group of strippers argues before a Sixth Circuit panel to undo the approval of a class-action settlement with their employers for wage violations; scientists find a modified enzyme tested on rats could help smokers kick their dependence on nicotine, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including U.S. Senate candidates hoping to fill the seat vacated by Senator Jeff Flake’s retirement clashing in a pivotal debate in Arizona; a federal judge paves the way for an Obama-era rule to take effect that helps protect students defrauded by for-profit colleges from predatory lending practices; Paul Manafort asks a judge to let him street clothes, rather than prison garb to an upcoming hearing; a literary advocacy sues President Donald Trump over his threats to use his powers to punish critical media members; California voters are drowning in pre-election mailings; the United Nations calls for faster action on climate change; a new Pew Research Center study says most Americans distrust social media bots, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including early, in-person voting getting underwat in Georgia where Republican Brian Kemp, currently Georgia’s secretary of state, and Democrat Stacey Abrams are vying to succeed Nathan Deal as the next governor; accused Russian spy Maria Butina files a letter requesting the government turn over criminal records, arrest reports and details on witnesses prosecutors might use to build their case against her; the Supreme Court agrees to review a Second Circuit ruling involving the application of the First Amendment to the private operator of a public-access television channel; the Florida Supreme Court rules that the state’s next governor and not current Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott will get to pick three new justices to the state Supreme Court; a new study says the global supply of beer could be the next victim of climate change; Bavarian voters did what they were expected to do Sunday: They dealt German’s ruling “grand coalition” of conservatives and Social Democrats a resounding defeat, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including the Senate confirming 15 of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, including three to federal appeals courts; a federal judge tosses a lawsuit by the ACLU that claimed U.S. Health and Human Services subsidized religion by allocating millions of dollars to faith-based groups; the D.C. Circuit struggles over a suit that would hold search engines like Google liable for letting disreputable locksmiths manipulate their map results; the Arkansas Supreme Court uphelds a state law that requires voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot; the Seventh Circuit rules a Wisconsin school district did not discriminate against a Catholic school on religious grounds when it refused to provide bus service; Beto O’Rourke’s long,  campaign for Senate through all 254 Texas counties recalls for many Texans the populist appeal of the state’s last Democratic governor, the late Ann Richards; a political earthquake is expected in elections this Sunday in the politically conservative and traditionally stable German state of Bavaria, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including the Senate Judiciary Committee approving eight of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, including one who received a not qualified rating from the American Bar Association; a federal judge wants to know whether Robert Mueller wants to pursue a series of counts the jury deadlocked on during Paul Manafort’s trial last summer; President Donald Trump signs the Music Modernization Act into law, guaranteeing royalty payments to artists and songwriters for pre-1972 recordings; dozens of laws are waved in preparation for construction of 18 miles of border wall in South Texas; New Jersey sued over a plan to allow oil and gas drilling off its coast, but not Florida’s; the California Coastal Commission amicably settles a 33-year dispute over a lagoon access trail in Carlsbad; with the recent murder of one journalist and the disappearance of another overseas, press advocates are sounding the alarm and demanding the U.S. government do more to hold those who harm and jail reporters accountable, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pausing the Second Circuit’s approval of the deposition of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross over the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census; in other Supreme Court news, the justices grappled with how quickly the government must pick up immigrants following their release from prison if it want to initiate deportation proceedings and North Dakota’s new voter ID requirements, which they decided to keep in place; the Second Circuit lifts a ban on the release of a biopic that probes the 1977 plane crash that killed the front man and other members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd; the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to write off nearly $90 million in fees imposed on thousands of families with children in the juvenile justice system; a new study indicates certain shifts in what food we consume and how we handle food waste could make feeding the world sustainable in the coming decades; the Justice Department inspector general fails to identify who leaked a sensitive UK intelligence report about the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor whom President Donald Trump elevated to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, resigning without explanation; asking just five questions during his first day at the Supreme Court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh focused on precedent in oral argument for a criminal case about the classification of violent felonies; computer users hit Google and its parent company with a federal class action stemming from another Silicon Valley privacy scandal; attorneys for three Michigan residents receiving long-term care in nursing homes argue before the state’s highest court that their spouse’s transfer of assets to a trust should not prevent them from receiving Medicaid benefits; a Ninth Circuit panel questiona a federal judge’s decision to overturn a Justice Department policy against prosecuting people accused of killing an endangered animal; British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Union leaders appear to be getting closer to a deal on Brexit, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including a landmark report from the United Nations putting a tighter-than-expected deadline for countries to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement; a national monument that former President Barack Obama established in the Atlantic Ocean survives a court challenge; a federal judge agrees to quash subpoenas served on American University on behalf of accused Russian operative Maria Butina; a furry relative to minks and otters and native to the West Coast may get federal protection as threatened under the Endangered Species Act; nearly 50 members of three Native American tribes in North Dakota claim in a class action that Andeavor Logistics is unfairly profiting from a crude oil pipeline operating through tribal trust lands; the makers of Titleist golf balls are suing the makers of a parody brand that holds itself out as the “sluttiest ball in golf,” and more.

Top CNS stories for today including Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh now being just a day away from confirmation after surviving a procedural vote and garnering the support of key senators; Courthouse News files a First Amendment action against the court clerk in San Jose, California, over the practice of holding up access to new civil actions filed in Silicon Valley, where internet giants such as Google and Facebook are based; former Vice President Joe Biden stumps for California Democrats, saying victories in GOP-held congressional districts this November can help stop President Donald Trump’s “assault” on immigrants, women and working class families; special counsel Robert Mueller receives an endorsement from nine constitutional law professors who want the D.C. Circuit to affirm the constitutionality of Mueller’s appointment; a federal judge opens the door for environmentalists to bolster claims over a lobster fishery they blame for the declining population of an endangered whale; general elections in Bosnia are heightening concerns of potential violence; in his latest dispatch, Courthouse News’ western bureau chief unintentionally follows fires from California to the canyons of Idaho, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including Republican senators concluding an FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exonerates the nominee, paving the way for a critical vote Friday; a federal judge blocks the Trump administration from canceling temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Sudanese who face dangers in their home countries; the Seventh Circuit upholds a Wisconsin law that requires all butter sold in the state to be graded; a group of protesters removed from a country ham breakfast at the 2015 Kentucky State Fair challenge their arrests as unconstitutional before the Sixth Circuit; former employees accuse the Milton Hershey School of barely disguising its sectarian activities; the political fortunes of French President Emmanuel Macron are in trouble, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including three concerned citizens failing to stop President Donald Trump from testing out an emergency text alert that popped up on hundreds of millions of cellphones Wednesday afternoon; the White House is phasing out wildlife refuge managers, the people who police illegal hunting, fishing, trapping and pollution, among other stewardship duties; the Houston City Council revises city law to prevent a Canadian purveyor of sex robots that plans to open its first U.S. shop; a group representing descendants of Alamo defenders claims in court that the Texas General Land Office and the manager of the San Antonio mission’s day-to-day operations have unlawfully silenced its members who oppose a site redevelopment plan; an attorney for Michigan argues before a Sixth Circuit panel to overturn an injunction that prevents the state from suspending the licenses of drivers who don’t pay traffic fines; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that fast food regularly feeds one out of three adults in the United States, and consumption tends to increase along with income, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including Senator Jeff Flake ralling Monday night in New Hampshire for the return of civility and compromise in American politics; a record number of Californians have registered to vote ahead of the November midterms in which they’ll pick a new governor, a U.S. Senator and decide a host of hotly contested congressional races; in a new court filing, BuzzFeed explains in detail for the first time how it came to publish the so-called “Russia dossier” compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele; voicing alarm at expanded registration requirements for sex offenders, Justice Neil Gorsuch says the federal law appears to give prosecutors too much power; a federal judge advances a class action accusing Chipotle Mexican Grill of falsely advertising its food as made from only non-GMO ingredients; a new international survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that while American allies want the U.S. to remain the world’s top superpower, and more.

Top CNS stories for today including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions suing California to stop hours-old legislation being called the strongest net neutrality law in the nation; a small frog creates a big stir on the first day of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court as a divided court grapples with how far the federal government can go to protect the habitat of an endangered creature; a federal judge denies a request by environmental groups and scientists who believe immigration causes climate change to review seven immigration statutes; the U.S. Supreme Court rejects hearing the case of a California billionaire trying to make the state pay to use his property as a beach-access point; the Seventh Circuit rules the National Labor Relations Act does not allow local municipalities to pass right-to-work laws; a new study fines more Americans in their 50s and 60s believe DNA testing is a boon to many, but is also fueling anxiety; the United Nations’ highest court rejects landlocked Bolivia’s bid to force Chile to the negotiating table over granting access to the Pacific Ocean, and more.