Nightly Brief

Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including O. J. Simpson, former football star turned convicted robber, persuading a parole board to set him free from a medium-security prison outside Lovelock, Nevada; attendees of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference on Wednesday were greeted by two large state-of-the art security robots wandering slowly around the perimeter of the conference room; the European General Court upheld the asset freeze of two companies involved in the buying and selling of “conflict diamonds” from the Central African Republic, and more.

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**1.) In National news O. J. Simpson, former football star turned convicted robber, is set to be released from a medium-security prison outside Lovelock, Nevada, as early as Oct. 1 after his good behavior while confined as “offender 1027820” helped secure his parole Thursday.

2.) Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday insisted he will remain in his job, despite sharp public criticism from President Donald Trump over his decision to recuse himself from any investigation into ties between the president’s campaign and the Russian government.

3.) Experts told lawmakers Wednesday that low-level Chinese businessmen dabbling in money laundering and the trafficking of materials for nuclear power reactors in North Korea are making effective sanctions on Pyongyang close to impossible.

4.) As attendees of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference arrived for the Wednesday morning panel discussion, two large state-of-the art security robots wandered slowly and menacingly around the perimeter of the conference room.

**5.) In Regional news a decades-old effort to restore water and salmon to California’s second largest river is on the chopping block under a proposal by House Republicans to speed up dam projects and increase diversions to farmers.

6.) Three California lawmakers have proposed a bill that would make it a crime for anyone in a state agency to obstruct or tamper with an audit – a direct response to the state auditor’s revelation earlier this year that the University of California president’s office had done exactly that.