Nightly Brief

Your Friday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including a federal judge in Philadelphia ordering the Trump administration not to enforce new rules that could significantly reduce women’s access to free birth control; a divided National Labor Relations Board overturned an Obama-era precedent that allowed workers to hold companies responsible for labor law violations committed by their contractors or franchises; a federal judge held the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court in New Orleans is violating the Constitution by charging poor prisoners fees they are unable to pay and relying on those fees to fund the court and pay salaries; a federal prosecutor rebutted claims by three teams of defense lawyers in the FIFA bribery trial in Brooklyn who said their clients had nothing to do with the corruption that has tainted international soccer for decades, and more.

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1.) In National news, a divided National Labor Relations Board voted along party lines Thursday to overturn an Obama-era precedent that allowed workers to hold companies responsible for labor law violations committed by their contractors or franchises.

2.) Every time it rains in Pascagoula, Mississippi, something bad happens to the water in Bayou Casotte: the rain helps flush 7 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into the bay on the Pascagoula River.

3.) A federal judge in Philadelphia on Friday ordered the Trump administration not to enforce new rules that could significantly reduce women’s access to free birth control.

4.) A federal judge ordered the IRS to stop letting clergy deduct housing allowances, after finding that the federal law violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by endorsing religion.

5.) In Regional news, by charging poor prisoners fees they are unable to pay and relying on those fees to fund the court and pay salaries, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court is violating the Constitution, a federal judge ruled this week.

6.) In an echo of the high-profile gay wedding cake case before the U.S. Supreme Court, California this week sued a Bakersfield bakery to stop it from discriminating against same-sex couples.

7.) The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was indicted by a Harris County, Texas, grand jury Thursday based on accusations of hazing at its University of Houston chapter, including claims that one pledge was body-slammed and forced to roll around in vomit and feces.

8.) In International news, a federal prosecutor rebutted claims by three teams of defense lawyers in the FIFA bribery trial in Brooklyn who said their clients had nothing to do with the corruption that has tainted international soccer for decades.

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