Nightly Brief

Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including a federal judge ordering Harris County, Texas criminal court judges to prove they did not withhold evidence of policies against releasing poor misdemeanor defendants from jail; the U.S. Justice Department ordering 23 cities, counties and states to turn over documents that prove their cooperation with federal immigration authorities, renewing threats to cut funding to so-called sanctuary cities; a Michigan judge sentencing former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting young female athletes; the European Commission fining technology giant Qualcomm over $1.2 billion Wednesday after finding the company had abused its dominance in the cellphone chipset market and suppressing competition, and more.

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National

1.) The federal judge who forced Texas’ biggest county to overhaul its bail system ordered Harris County criminal judges on Tuesday to prove they did not withhold evidence of policies against releasing poor misdemeanor defendants from jail.

2.) The Government Accountability Office is investigating the possibility of fraud and identity theft during the Federal Communication Commission’s net neutrality rule-making process.

3.) President Donald Trump’s pick for a seat on the 7th Circuit Wednesday downplayed Democrats’ concerns about his commitment to following precedent, saying he consistently applied principles set out in prior case while serving as a Wisconsin state court judge.

4.) The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday ordered 23 cities, counties and states to turn over documents that prove their cooperation with federal immigration authorities, renewing threats to cut funding to so-called sanctuary cities.

5.) A cynical shred of common ground emerged at an oversight hearing of the Congressional Budget Office as both parties agreed Wednesday that the Senate’s budget process is broken.

Regional

6.) After a week of more than 150 wrenching victim-impact statements, a Michigan judge sentenced former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison Wednesday for sexually assaulting young female athletes.

7.) San Francisco joined dozens of other cities on Tuesday in replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a move hailed by some as long overdue but denounced by others as cruel and divisive.

8.) An attorney for a North Carolina strip club argued before the Fourth Circuit Wednesday that an ordinance adopted by the city of Rocky Mount to regulate sexually oriented businesses is overly broad and should be thrown out.

9.) A newly identified fly species – the smallest one found so far – has been named after an unlikely person: the decidedly not-small fitness and acting superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger.

International

10.) The European Commission fined technology giant Qualcomm over $1.2 billion Wednesday after finding the company had abused its dominance in the cellphone chipset market and suppressing competition.

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